Mancini undecided about Tevez in Chelsea game

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has admitted that Carlos Tevez may play against Chelsea in the club’s next domestic fixture.

The Argentina international has had a controversial season; first refusing to come off the bench against Bayern Munich in September, then going AWOL for three months.

However, with the South American marksman back in training and playing for the reserves, Mancini admits first-team inclusion is only round the corner.

“We will see in the next week. It depends on Carlo,” he said in a press conference, published in The Telegraph.

“If Carlo is okay then probably, but it depends on a lot of things.”

City face Sporting Lisbon first in the Europa League on Thursday with a 1-0 defeat from the first leg to remedy, but they will have to do so without Gareth Barry.

“Gareth has had a problem with his back for 20 days. He can’t run well. When he went to the national team he had a problem.

“On Sunday he didn’t play well but I think that is because he had a problem,” the Italian continued.

City lost 1-0 to Swansea on Sunday to see them drop to second in the Premier League table, but Mancini has urged everyone at the club to remain positive.

“We can’t think negative at this moment. We are positive and we think we will win the Premier League and the Europa League.

“I think that in Portugal and against Swansea we did not play a very good game, we did not play like Manchester City usually play. We didn’t deserve to lose both games but I think we need to play better.

“We can’t cry, now is the time to be strong and keep going. We have a top team and we have time to recover. We can’t cry because we are one point behind Manchester United.

“We have 10 games, our fortune is in our hands and we can change it if we want to.

“Like we lost points against Swansea, United can lose points against Wolverhampton. Every game will be difficult for both teams,” he concluded.