The Royals make trip to Manchester to battle City
- By A.D. Winn on March 12, 2011 22:21 GMT
Manchester City’s FA Cup exploits continue on Sunday, as Roberto Mancini’s men prepare to face Championship side Reading at Eastlands.
Reading, who upset Everton in the last round to progress through to this stage, are 25 places lower in the league structure than City.
They are the last non-Premier League side remaining in the competition, but boss Brian McDermott has declared his side will not be mesmerized by City’s millionaires.
“You look at the players that City have got, the amount of money they have spent and the manager they have got then and it's a real privilege to go to Eastlands and play against them,” McDermott said is his last press conference before travelling to Manchester.
“But we have no fear. We are looking forward to it. We want to go there and get a result. We want to do right by our fans and put on a performance for them.
His sides injury doubts prior to kick-off include Matt Mills, who will need to pass an 11th hour fitness test before being deemed fit to feature, and Jobi McAnuff, who looks set to return after an ankle injury.
Defender Andy Griffin and goalkeeper Adam Federici are sidelined but on-loan midfielder Mikele Leigertwood is authorised to play.
For City, they face another fixture just a few days after Thursday’s energy-sapping flight to and from the Ukraine, where they lost to Kiev.
Italian target-man Mario Balotelli looks set to miss out on the cup tie after suffering an allergic reaction to the Kiev pitch. He looks set to be joined on the sidelines by James Milner.
Blues boss Mancini will however be boosted by the fitness of Nigel de Jong and Captain Carlos Tevez, who will likely start the match. Kolo Toure’s drug case is still undecided, so he will not feature.
The last two occasions when these sides met in the cup, Reading forced City to replays. The Blues’ forthcoming fixture-list is already tight, so Mancini will be hoping his side can progress on the day without any complications or further injuries.
Form
All Competitions:
Manchester City: WDWWL (8 goals for, 3 against)
Reading: WDWWW (14 goals for, 7 against)
FA Cup:
Manchester City: DWDWW (15 goals for, 5 against)
Reading: WLWWW (9 goals for, 7 against)
