Panicked, Mancini Seeks More Firepower

Roberto Mancini wants Manchester City management to spend more money at the January transfer window so that the squad can be made more formidable for the Premier League title race.

The Italian is worried over the prospect of a weaker side competing for the coveted title as brothers Yaya and Kolo Toure are due to join their Ivory Coast international teammates for the African Cup of Nations. And Mario Balotelli is down with an ankle injury.

"This could be the first championship for many years and we need to do everything we can to win it. We could take in one player. I think in January - and I said this two months ago - we could have a big problem. We play four important games, big games without Yaya," Goal.com quoted Mancini as saying.

He has also admitted that his squad is increasingly under pressure. "If we don't have the players it's tough for us. We are not (Manchester) United. The difference is this. United and Chelsea have won trophies for many years. So they are quiet, they understand that they can play without pressure. For us it's different," the website quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has acknowledged the challenging potential of bitter rivals City. "The way we and our supporters should look at it is that we may as well get used to it, because they are not going to go away. We played them in a semi-final last year and the year before, we're both in the Europa League this year and now we are facing them in the FA Cup," Sir Alex told Inside United.

"We played them in a semi-final last year and the year before, we're both in the Europa League this year and now we are facing them in the FA Cup. So we have to get used to the fact that City are going to be challenging for competitions along with us," he added.