• Manager: 'I am not worried about' being dismissed
• Italian says City will win title next year if they fall short this year
Roberto Mancini has insisted that he will not be sacked if Manchester City fail to win the Premier League title this season. "I have one year left on my contract, but I am not worried about it," he said. "The chairman, Khaldoon [al-Mubarak], and the owner, Sheikh Mansour, are serious people. One victory or defeat is not going to change things. We have set a project in place and we respect that.
"After that, in football, anything can change, but I have an excellent relationship with Khaldoon and we speak several times a week. He likes to know all about the team, the players."
The Italian went on to predict that City will win the title next year if they fail this season and hinted that he may recall Mario Balotelli for Monday evening's crucial derby with Manchester United following the forward's suspension.
Mancini told France Football: "If Manchester City do not win the league this season, we will win it next season and we will be successful in the future years. We are improving. We have played very well and we were top for 28 games."
Regarding Balotelli, who has now finished his three-match ban for being sent off at Arsenal earlier in the month, he said: "All the players are available, but I will make my choice on Sunday. Despite doing some silly things, Balotelli has also made some important contributions, like his two goals at Old Trafford in October [in City's 6-1 win]. He has many qualities. With him, anything is possible. He is young and still makes big errors that can put your team in trouble. But I still think he has great talent."
He is also happy to select Carlos Tevez following the Argentinean's dispute with the club. "Carlos? I have always had a good relationship with him. I had no problem in forgiving him [for his behaviour this season]. Bringing him back was a logical choice as he is a player of great quality, one of the best strikers in the world. I thought he could lend a hand."
The 162nd derby is the most pivotal in the fixture's history but Mancini insists he is not feeling any extra pressure before the game at the Etihad. "This is not the most important match of my life," Mancini said. "I have had other crucial games, like the last day of Serie A in the 2007-08 season, when I was coaching Inter. At half-time on that day, Roma were champions, but we won the title by scoring two goals in the second half to beat Parma. But yes, this match against United is very important. City have been waiting for a match like this since 1968. I don't know if my heart will beat faster, though, and yes, of course, I will sleep well on Sunday night. I will sleep peacefully. There are more important things in life."
Mancini, claimed he would choose Wayne Rooney and a "younger" Ryan Giggs if he could select any United player, repeated his view that his opponents' greater experience makes them favourites on Monday.
But Mancini is happy with his team's progress. "In the league, we have made enormous progress over teams who have been in the Champions League for a long time. I think we can be proud of our work. A few weeks ago, we were eight points behind United. When you are so much behind in the table, you can give up, but it was not true in our case and this is very important.
"It shows that, beyond the technical qualities of this team, there is strength. Beating United 6-1 gave us strength for the future. For us, it was also a strong signal. Our victory over United in the FA Cup semi-final last season was also important. That kind of game is a turning- point. Playing against United has helped our progression, it helped us to learn.
"We are nearer to them, but they are still even better than us. They have more experience and that team spirit that we are currently building, but even when we lost to them, we had interesting games. Against them, we always manage to excel. But for 20 years, the club [United] have won constantly. Even when they are behind in a game, or in the league, they know they can come back because they have this inner strength borne from all of their success."
Micah Richards, who should have recovered from a hamstring problem, has explained why victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's men would be sweet. "Because United have always been better than us and have always had the bragging rights, it just makes it a little bit more special," he said. "I've played against them since I was part of the Under-14s and they've always been the better at every level. We're not quite there yet, though we're slowly, but surely catching up. Everyone wants to beat United because it's a huge game and there's never been a better time for this. If we win it really is in our hands." Read More
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