Thursday 30 October 2014 10:33, UK
Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini admits he is concerned by his side’s recent slump in form after they were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Newcastle.
City were far from their best against the Magpies at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday as goals from Rolando Aarons and Moussa Sissoko ended their defence of the trophy they won last March.
And next up for Pellegrini's side is the Manchester Derby - live on Sky Sports on Sunday.
The Newcastle defeat came after Pellegrini’s men threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League before then losing 2-1 at West Ham in the Premier League last Saturday.
"Of course it's a concern because it is twice in one week we have conceded too many goals and I don't think that we are scoring the chances that we have we don't score, which makes them a little bit nervous,” said Pellegrini.
"We did not play well. We didn't move the ball in the way we normally do and we were conceding goals too easily and we did not score the chances that we had.”
However, the City boss added that he is confident his side can turn things around and return to winning ways.
"I'm sure that we will leave this week behind us and carry on thinking about the future," he said.
This weekend, City host rivals United in the Manchester derby and Pellegrini is hopeful of having David Silva and Yaya Toure fit to feature despite both players leaving Wednesday’s game early with injuries.
"Well David has a problem in his knee, we will see tomorrow how big is it. Yaya was with some problem in his groin, but I think that's nothing important," added Pellegrini.
City have been inconsistent this season, conceding 19 goals in 14 games in all competitions.
But the Chilean added: "I think it's very important to have clean sheets. As a team you play easily or you play with more trust when you don't concede any easy goal at the beginning.
"But I think we must improve in general, not just talking about the defending. We must create more chances, we must score more goals.
"We are working on that and I am absolutely sure we will return to be the same team we were in the most important part of last season.
"But the only way is to compare last season with this season. And I don't think we are any worse this season."
