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Media glare has hurt City - Richards

Richards has called on the club to lower its off-pitch profile © PA Photos

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Manchester City defender Micah Richards has blamed off-field distractions for the club's fading Premier League title challenge and has called for changes in the way they handle their profile in the media.

City slipped eight points behind Manchester United following their 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on Sunday, with Mario Balotelli again grabbing the headlines after being sent off for the fourth time in his career in England.

The Italian was involved in a car crash ahead of the game, the latest in a string of off-field incidents that have thrown the spotlight on the striker, whose antics have managed to overshadow the return of Carlos Tevez.

With six games remaining this season, Richards admits it has been tough for City to see their cross-town rivals catch and overtake them in recent weeks, but the team remain united behind manager Roberto Mancini.

"The team spirit is as good as ever at City," Richards said to the Daily Mail. "I should know. I have been in that dressing room for years."

But while City have been in contention to win a first league title since 1968, Richards, who has been at the club for over a decade, admits that the volume of press surrounding City - both on-field and off - is something the side could do without.

"If I pick up a paper four times in a week, then three of those times I will see a story about City that we could do without," he said. "When you are trying to focus on one thing - winning the league - then this is hard. We don't need it.

"There are certain things around our club that wouldn't happen at other clubs. Well, they might but if they did then nobody would know. If something happens with us, it's in the paper every day and that can make it seem like it's a constant battle. Things happen at every club. But at City we don't help ourselves. We are the only club who have a training ground that allows the paparazzi to take pictures of training over the fence. Why is that?

"Everyone has done a fantastic job so far. To be even competing with United is great but at our club certain things always seem to happen. Do these things cause us to lose a game? No, but they certainly don't help us to win any."

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