Mancini: Manchester City not thinking about derby yet

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has insisted that the upcoming derby against rivals Manchester United is not distracting the squad ahead of the must-win Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund.

The 48-year-old coach admits his side will have to beat one of the "best teams in Europe" to hold any hope of continuing their participation in European football in the New Year, with a spot in the Europa League the only obtainable prize after City failed to win any of their previous five games in this season’s Champions League group stage.

Mancini quashed reports he could play a weakened side, with a full set of strikers travelling to Germany, however he will be without injured pair Yaya Toure and David Silva.

"Mario Balotelli is here and he can play. So can Edin [Dzeko], and we have other strikers in [Carlos] Tevez and [Sergio] Aguero. Yaya [Toure] will not play," Mancini told reporters.

"We are not thinking of the derby this weekend. We have a difficult match coming up here and we brought all our players except the injured ones.

"Borussia Dortmund are currently one of the best teams in Europe and we have a difficult match ahead of us."

Mancini believes the club should not be embarrassed by their second consecutive early exit in the competition, adding that Dortmund and fellow group D opponents Real Madrid are more deserving of progression, and City must now look to future challenges.

He continued: "In the Europa League you play on Thursdays, so that's a bit tricky, but we still want to make it and will try everything to go through and then go as far as possible there.

"We are disappointed because we wanted to reach the second round. But I believe that there are times when there are teams in football that are better than you and you have to respect that.

"We have to accept that Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid played better than we did and we'll have to try again next season. But it was not an embarrassment."

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Source: Goal