Roberto Mancini has urged his Man City players to make up for lost time as he fears they are 'three or four weeks' away from full fitness.
City boss finally has whole squad together to prepare for the season
Roberto Mancini has urged his Manchester City players to make up for lost time as he fears they are 'three or four weeks' away from full fitness.
The City boss has finally got his expensively assembled squad together at their Carrington training base to prepare for their Community Shield clash with Chelsea on Sunday.
But with a number of players given extra time off for their exertions in Euro 2012 and others being toured around Austria, Asia and Germany, the Italian has been unable to work with the whole squad until now.
This week, though, he has been able to get everyone on the same pitch for the first time since they scored two late goals against QPR to clinch City's first title in a generation on goal difference.
But with the first competitive game of the season just days away Mancini is concerned his side will not be ready in time.
"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."
