Pellegrini content to bide his time

Many Premier League managers highlight the importance of negotiating the hectic Christmas period, but Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini is in a relaxed mood with his side trailing leader Chelsea by three points.

Second-place City, which has 39 points from 17 matches, begins the holiday schedule with a trip to West Bromwich Albion on Friday before hosting Burnley and Sunderland in quick succession.

Having won six straight league matches, City has closed the gap on Chelsea but Pellegrini does not think the next few weeks will define the champion's season.

"We are not thinking about Chelsea," Pellegrini told a media conference on Tuesday. "We are just thinking about our team.

"We know it is important to have our own pressure. You never win the title in December.

"We have a long five months to continue playing as well as we are doing so far and we will see at the end of the season which team has the most points."

City can take heart from claiming two titles in three seasons, but Pellegrini does not think that will give his side an edge against Chelsea, which last won the prize in 2010.

"It is always hard to win, the first time and the second time," Pellegrini said. "I think there is the same degree of difficulty from one year to another.

"We have the players in a high level of performance. We are trusting what we do, so in the same way we played poorly two months ago, we are now doing very well."

City played without a striker in its 3-0 win over Crystal Palace last weekend as first-choice forwards Steven Jovetic, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero were all injured.

Pellegrini will again have to make do without a recognized striker against West Brom, but the Chilean hopes Jovetic, who has missed the last three games with a hamstring strain, will be back soon along with captain Vincent Kompany.

"Jovetic and Kompany will be back soon, at the end of this week or next week," he said.

"But Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero will not be back until the second part of January."

(China Daily 12/25/2014 page24)