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December is make-or-break for City - Mancini

Roberto Mancini says December is an important month for Manchester City © PA Photos

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Roberto Mancini has fired a warning shot to his Manchester City stars, asserting that December will prove critical in their bid to win silverware this season.

City meet Salzburg on Wednesday night, with a place in the knockout phase of the Europa League within sight and the clash kicks-off a hectic schedule for the club.

Mancini's men will play seven matches in December - five in the Premier League - with 10 games in all competitions coming over a busy 10-week period.

"This month [December] will be very important for us as we have some difficult games against strong teams," said Mancini.

"During this spell we can understand what we must do for the future. It will be very tough because we play every three days. But first we must try to beat Salzburg and go through to the next stage. Then we play just two games in February. That will give us time to concentrate on the league and that could be an important month too."

Despite City occupying fourth place in the league, some fans are growing frustrated with the tactics being employed by Mancini, with the Italian appearing to prefer efficiency and stubbornness over flair and invention - though the manager insists winning is the most important thing.

"We must respect the supporters," he said. "Our job is to improve and win for them. That is what we always want to do. The teams that come here all have players who get behind the ball. But we have still scored a lot of goals at home. We know it is important to win if we want to go through to the next stage."

With a chaotic fixture list around the corner, Mancini has admitted he may make changes to the side that drew with Stoke at the weekend. One man who may get a chance to shine is Wayne Bridge - with the full-back now fully recovered from injury.

Mancini said: "He is available to play. The problem he has is he is always injured. Every game he plays he cannot finish. It is usually a hamstring or a groin problem. He played in Salzburg but after 70 minutes he was injured. He played against Blackpool and was injured. He played against Poznan and was injured. It is impossible he can play because of this.

"Every time he was available he played. This week he is available. He is an important part of our group as he has been unlucky. We will change some players for tomorrow as we are playing two games in a few days but it will still be a good team."

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