Man City will impose a maximum fine on Mario Balotelli if reports he spent the early hours of Friday morning at a strip club are confirmed.
City boss to discuss reports of a night out with Italian striker
Manchester City will impose a maximum fine on Mario Balotelli if reports he spent the early hours of Friday morning at a strip club are confirmed.
Balotelli started and scored in their win over Bolton on Saturday, a result that moved the Premier League leaders five points clear of Manchester United
Mancini always planned on utilising the Italy international from the start and he did not hear about the alleged incident until he arrived at the Etihad Stadium.
The Italian was pleased with the former Inter Milan's ace display against Wanderers, although he will be seeking talks to establish if the report is true.
Disappointed
"I don't know if it's true because I heard about this here at the stadium from the newspaper," commented Mancini.
"We prepared for this game with Mario because he was fresh. It's normal that I speak with him.
"Mario played well. He had a lot chances. If next time he goes to sleep early he can score three or four goals.
"Tomorrow I'll speak with him because I'm really disappointed because it's not the correct manner for me, the squad or for him.
"Sure if it's true we'll do the maximum fine that we can. After, we'll decide about the situation."
Title rivals United play Tottenham on Sunday and Mancini is expecting Sir Alex Ferguson's troops to respond with a three-point haul of their own.
"I think United will win tomorrow because they are a strong team," he continued.
"I told you, if you want to win this championship you need to win the next ten games."
Injury
Mancini has bemoaned the international break after Pablo Zabaleta tweaked his hamstring in the first half against Bolton, meaning Kolo Toure had to operate at right-back.
City's boss did not want to use Zabaleta as he was tired himself, but with England international Micah Richards unavailable he was forced to gamble with his fitness.
"I had Aguero, Silva, Zaba and Kolarov on Thursday night. They only had one training session and were tired.
"If not we had a risk like Zaba. Zaba was tired, but we had a problem that Micah was injured.
"We only had one full-back. Zaba played, but now we have a problem because of his hamstring."
