Manuel Pellegrini has claimed Manchester City are “not a disaster or mess” and insisted there is not a great deal wrong with the champions despite his side having lost three of their past five matches before Sunday’s derby with Manchester United.
Vincent Kompany faces a late fitness test and Wilfried Bony and Stevan Jovetic are out of the 169th meeting between the clubs due to injury, but Pellegrini is confident his team are functioning well. He did, however, admit more goals are required.
“I understand we are not having the results we need playing away. 2015 is not a good year for us – before that we were the best team playing away,” he said. “We lost the last three games, especially the last two with two goals in set-pieces, against Burnley and Palace. We hope we continue keeping the good things we are doing because we are not a disaster, we’re not a mess. We are doing a lot of things well.
Regarding his own future as manager, which is in doubt with City trailing Premier League leaders Chelsea by nine points, Pellegrini believes he has the backing of the whole club. “I am not talking about my future because it is not important,” the Chilean said. “I am just thinking about the game against Manchester United. I feel everyone supports me at the club. We have to improve because we are not winning but we are the most attacking team, the team that has most possession of the ball. We don’t concede many goals so the team is working to score.
“The players are happy in the way we work and the way we play. I don’t see any problems inside the club but you never know what will happen in August and at the end of the season. If you ask me, I am not afraid because I think we are in the correct way but a bad moment.”
Of those players who are injured or a doubt for Sunday, Pellegrini said: “Stevan Jovetic has a muscle injury. Bony had a problem the day before the game against Crystal Palace, he twisted his ankle and his knee so he will not be ready for this game. [Dedryck] Boyata has a problem in his knee. Kompany – we will assess him tomorrow [due to] what happened with the problem in the last game. He didn’t work this week in a normal way. We will see if he can play or not. It is always better to play with Kompany but if for different reasons he cannot play we have a squad and he must be replaced.”
