Manchester City still ‘three or four’ weeks off full fitness, claims Mancini

Aug 7, 2012 4:40:00 PM

The Italian has urged his squad to work together and build their fitness ahead of Sunday’s Community Shield clash against Chelsea and the Premier League kick-off a week later

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is worried some of his players are still “three or four weeks” away from being fully fit and has called on his squad to pull together ahead of the new season.

2011-12 GOAL.COM 50 WINNER:
CRISTIANO RONALDO

The Portuguese superstar has topped our definitive countdown of the finest players from 2011-12. Click here to view our slideshow from 50-1!

The Premier League champions face Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday before opening the defence of their title the following weekend against newly promoted Southampton.

However, the former the Inter Milan boss is wary of some of his stars lacking match fitness, with players such as David Silva and Mario Balotelli given time off following Euro 2012, and believes their recent pre-season games have been vital to their preparations.

"The games against Oldham and Limerick were very important, but I think we need another three or four weeks for these players to get back to full fitness," Mancini told the club's official website.

"We will all need to work very hard at Carrington. We will start to work together, the whole team together as we prepare for the season ahead.

"For us it was important that the players play in the European Championship, but they needed a month to recover because last season was very hard and this season will be very long."

Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached!
Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET!

play

open

Inside Goal.Com

Player Ratings: Siena 1-2 AC Milan
Goal was on hand to judge all the players as Allegri's men finished third in Serie A and secured a Champions League berth next season
Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Valladolid
Goal rates the players on show as the newly-crowned Liga champions cruised past the challenge of Miroslav Djukic's men to keep up hopes of reaching 100 points
Arsenal hold their nerve in top-four battle
Arsene Wenger's side produced a clinical performance to secure a top-four Premier League finish but now they must kick on if they wish to challenge for honours next year
Player Ratings: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
Laurent Koscielny's 52nd-minute volley secured the Gunners the win over Alan Pardew's side and made sure they would be playing Champions League football next season
Player Ratings: West Brom 5-5 Man Utd
Sir Alex Ferguson was given a farewell to remember, but certainly not for the right reasons as the Romelu Lukaku-led hosts battled back from three goals down to earn an unlikely point