Mancini – City Will be Bigger Than United

Roberto Mancini has fired the first shots at United ahead of their League Cup semi final clash at Eastlands on Tuesday.

The City manager goes into his first Manchester derby on the back of his first defeat as City boss and will be looking for a sharp improvement in his team’s performance as City look to grab a place at Wembley next month.

“If we work well it is possible,” states Mancini who saw his team move into the top four with a win over Blackburn, only to see them drop out again five days later. “United have a big history. They have been a good team for many years. City can become a big team in the next year. It is most important that we get into the top four.

“That would change the situations. Surely it would be better if City were also a big club in the future because then Manchester could have two clubs in the Champions League.” Well, not exactly Roberto as United are in Trafford!

Ahead of Tuesday’s derby, it has been revealed that Roque Santa Cruz will miss the game due to a calf injury. The summer signing from Blackburn limped out of Saturday’s defeat at Everton after just nine minutes of action and will now be out for up to a month.