Roberto Mancini does not regret league cup team selection
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has said that he does not regret making changes to his team against West Bromwich Albion in the Carling Cup on Wednesday.
City went ahead after striker Joao Alves Jo's opening goal, but West Brom fought back to win the game 2–1.
Despite being handed an early exit in the competition, Mancini said that he stands by his decision to field an entirely different starting eleven from the side that played Wigan on Sunday.
"I don't regret making the changes," the Italian said. "I have big problems at the moment and we couldn't take any risks. If I had more players available it would be a different team."
Abdisalam Ibrahim, Javan Vidal and Ben Mee all made their debuts for City against West Brom as the team fell behind to goals by Gianni Zuiverloon and Simon Cox.
Important fixture against Chelsea
Mancini said that his players' recovery time ahead of Saturday's early league clash with Chelsea was crucial in his decision to rest the whole starting team from City's last league game.
"When you play like us and Chelsea, on Saturday at 12.45, the time to recover is very short. They would need minimum three days so to play tonight would have been dangerous."
The manager's decision to rest all of his first team also indicates the club's trophy priorities for the season.
"Saturday is more important, the FA Cup is more important. The Europa League is more important. I did not regard this as a necessary sacrifice. We wanted to win. That is why I had four senior players on the bench."
Most title contenders in the league, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, opted to alter their starting teams for the league cup ties this week. Only Arsenal and United progressed to the fourth round of the competition.
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