• 'For us it will just be one more game,' claims Mancini
• Manager stresses Manchester derby is not title decider
The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, is determined to play down the significance of Monday's derby clash with Manchester United even though Sir Alex Ferguson has already billed it as the Premier League title decider.
For both managers, it seems to be a premeditated decision to hype or undermine the game knowing City faltered in March and the beginning of April when the pressure for them to be champions was at its most intense.
Although the prize is obvious – victory would put City top on goal difference with two games of the season remaining and in pole position to claim their first championship since 1968 – Mancini is adamant he is treating it as no more significant than any other.
"The derby is always the game of the year," he said. "For the supporters, a derby is always a different game to the others. It is important for the city. Manchester has two top teams who are in a position to play this important game.
"But for us it will just be one more game, not because we fight for this or for that, and after it there are another two games, very tough games."
In between, there was that awesome 6-1 win for City at Old Trafford, something Mancini does not expect to be repeated in his lifetime. "The one at Old Trafford was a fantastic derby," said Mancini. "But it was a game that can happen only once every hundred years."
If there was any need to reinforce why Mancini was adopting his present stance, it came through the knowledge that City did not perform at their best against Wolves on Sunday having absorbed the enormity of what lay ahead.
Even the owner Sheikh Mansour seems to have got in on the act with a rare public utterance that he regards this season as a success, no matter how the final three weeks work out.
Mancini is happy to endorse that view. "We are happy to be where we are," he said. "We already have 10 more points than we got last year, and I am happy that we can finish the season well." Read More
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