Man City vs Portsmouth - Sun 31st Jan 13:30 pm

Our focus turns back on to the league tomorrow as a struggling Pompey side visit Eastlands.

We have to make sure that we stick the boot in on a club that are struggling on and off the pitch.

I don't like to see what has happened to Pompey but when it comes down to a football match I don't care what position they are in and hope that we can make their situation a little worse.

We should by rights hammer Pompey tomorrow, we are in good form and they are in poor form. Our squad is much stronger than theirs and on top of that their defensive rock Younes Kaboul has just been sold, so I can't really see us not scoring a few goals against them.

Actually all we have to do to convincingly win this game is play like we did against Utd in the Cup, I have no doubt if we play like that for this game we will comfortably win. In fact if we play to that standard for the rest of the season we will easily make fourth spot.

Just a little message to any Pompey fans, I really want us to hammer you tomorrow but it's not good seeing what has happened to your club after making so much progress in recent years and I hope you pull through.

Man City Team News:
Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge (both knee) are both expected to miss out although Bridge has been getting closer to fitness and may make a return, Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira are both set to miss out with calf problems. Emmanuel Adebayor made his return in midweek and is expected to be back in the match squad along with Kolo Toure.

Portsmouth Team News:
Jamie O'Hara has returned to Pompey for another loan spell and will be available as will David Nugent who has returned from his loan spell at Burnley. Younes Kaboul has left for Spurs but goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has not yet joined him as expected and should be available.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Richards, Kompany, Boyata, Garrido, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Barry, Bellamy, Tevez.

Possible Portsmouth Line Up: Begovic, Finnan, Hreidarsson, Ben-Haim, Wilson, Mokoena, Boateng, Mullins, Basinas, Utaka, Piquionne.

My Prediction: Man City 4 - 0 Portsmouth.

Worth A Bet: Nigel de Jong and SWP score in a 4 - 0 City win.

Big game and a big player lost!

I am still gutted, I really thought that maybe it was our year to win a trophy. It wasn't to be and we just have to plod on.

We played quite well last night and I wasn't disappointed with the performance, just the result. I just can't stop thinking about Shay Given's mistake though, he should have come out and claimed the ball when it ran away from Gigg's before Scholes scored, I am not going to hold a grudge against Given or anything but that does stand out as a key moment in the game and it could have been prevented.

We will just have to dust ourselves down and get on with it now, we are progressing and that is there for all to see. Maybe I got drunk on the hope of winning a trophy when really all I want is to see us make steps in that direction and that is what we are doing.

On the back of that game we have seen Robinho leave on loan, he has headed back home to Brazil on a deal lasting until the 4Th of August.

How frustrated am I that Robinho has left? VERY! I am not surprised that he has been allowed to leave because he just has not looked bothered. I am frustrated though because of the talent that he has, this lad could be one of the very best in the World if he wanted but he just refuses to show what he is capable of.

I really hope he comes back and proves a point to everyone although I am not sure if he will or not, he should otherwise he faces the prospect of fading away into oblivion. We shall see what happens with him, maybe we will just have to buy Messi!!!

Man Utd vs Man City - Wed 27Th Jan 20:00 pm

It is here, the big one! Can we do it? Absolutely we can!!!!

I had a lot of people asking me at work today 'are you nervous' my reply was no! I just hope our players feel the same way because they have nothing to be nervous about, we can more than match Utd if we want to!

Again all we need is hard work and determination and I am positive that we can win, our big players need to earn their tags as big players tonight and send us through to the Cup final.

I am looking to our midfield to make a big impact tonight, they are by far the most important part of the team in this game. We can not concede and it will be their job to guard the defence and well at that, I believe we have the players to manage that and I have every faith in them. The midfield will also be very busy attacking tonight as well, we must go all out and put pressure on Utd to win the game.

We need 180 minutes worth of hard work tonight and that is what I think we will get from our players, they are 90 minutes away from Wembley and if that isn't the biggest incentive you need then I don't know what is.

Come on lads you can do it!!!! CTID!!!!!!!!!!

Man City Team News:
Roque Santa Cruz is still out with a calf injury as is Patrick Vieira who has a similar problem, Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge (both knee) are also still out. Emmanuel Adebayor is back from Togo and may make the team, Kolo Toure is also back with us and is expected to start. Robinho is in the squad despite being linked with a move away.

Man Utd Team News:
Owen Hargreaves (knee) and John O'Shea (thigh) are out and it remains to be seen if Nemanja Vidic who has been suffering with a calf injury will play.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Richards, Toure, Kompany, Garrido, Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Barry, Zabaleta, Bellamy, Tevez.

Possible Man Utd Line Up: Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Evra, Obertan, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney.

My Prediction: Man Utd 0 - 1 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Carlos Tevez scores in a 1 - 0 City win.

Change to come and a prize up for grabs!

Firstly as some of you may have guessed the situation with Robinho means I will most likely be changing the name of my blog in the near future, I have a name in mind already but any suggestions are welcome.

Next I would like to tell you about a give away that I am doing, my blog is almost a year old an to celebrate it's 'birthday' I will be asking for an answer to a very simple question, the winner will win a City shirt of their choice! The question will be posted on the 30Th of January, full details about the give away will be given on that day also.

(REGRETTABLY THE COMPETITION DATE HAS NOW CHANGED DUE TO COMMITMENTS THAT I HAVE ON THE 30TH DURING THE DAY, IT WILL NOW TAKE PLACE ON THE FOLLOWING WEEKEND)

Scunthorpe beaten, next up is Stoke! *Video*

We defeated Scunthorpe today and now we must face Stoke at home in our quest for FA Cup glory.

We won 4 - 2 today with the goals coming from Petrov, Onuoha, Sylvinho and Robinho. They were all good goals with Sylvinho's being the pick of the bunch, Goals below!

We played alright today, not amazing but we did enough to get the job done. Scunthorpe were not bad and gave us a harder time than some Prem teams have this season, ultimately it was our class that shone through to help us win the game.

Our team was a much different one to usual today, two young men, Abdisalam Ibrahim and Greg Cunningham made their debuts. Ibrahim impressed me in the first half and although he faded in the second had an all round good game. Cunningham wasn't tested that much after coming on for de Jong in the second half, anything he did do was done well though.

I also thought that Boyata did well today, he has been a little shaky in his first couple of games at times but today he was very steady. Benjani was also a bit of an unsung hero, he worked very hard up top.

There was also a much better performance from Robinho today, he has took a lot of stick lately but did show signs of improvement today. He was trying a lot harder and was even tackling, he reverted to mixing his skill with doing the simple thing and it worked. He even scored after finishing off a good piece of build up, lets hope he continues to improve, if he isn't leaving that is!

Another Mancini win has seen us go through to play Stoke at home on the weekend of the 13/14Th of February. It is a good draw for us and we should be able to win it.

A few trips to Wembley for us lot this season? We shall see!

Goals.

Scunthorpe Utd vs Man City - Sun 24Th Jan 16:00 pm

Another Cup game against Scunthorpe sees us to travel to them this time round, it should not prove to be much of a task for us.

Having already beaten Scunthorpe 5 - 1 this season you would expect us to win this game, which I do. Scunny have been struggling in the Championship this season but they have been doing better lately, not that I expect that to make any difference to the result of this game.

We are expected to make a few changes for the game today and I will not be surprised if we do, any team that we put out today should be able to beat Scunthorpe and take some strain off our regular starters ahead of the Utd game.

Man City Team News:
Roque Santa Cruz and Patrick Vieira are both out with calf injuries and Joleon Lescott, Michael Johnson and Wayne Bridge all have knee problems which will see them miss out as well. Kolo Toure is still at the African Cup of Nations and Emmanuel Adebayor is still not ready to return to the pitch but was expected back in the Country today.

Scunthorpe Team News:
Josh Wright has recovered from illness and may return to the starting line up, Michael O'Connor misses out due to suspension. Big City fan Josh Lillis son of former City player Mark Lillis hopes to keep his place in goal against his beloved Blues.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Vidal, Boyata, Onuoha, Sylvinho, Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Barry, Petrov, Robinho, Benjani.

Possible Scunthorpe Line Up: Lillis, Byrne, A.Wright, Mirfin, Williams, Thompson, Woolford, J.Wright, McCann, Hayes, Hooper.

My Prediction: Man City 3 - 1 Scunthorpe Utd.

Worth A Bet: Ireland scores the first goal in a 3 - 1 City win.

Man City 2 - 1 Man Utd (Giggs 17', Tevez 42' pen,65') *Video*

Get in! I am so relieved and overjoyed, first blood is ours and now we must see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tevez was our main man again and scored both of our goals, his energy and work rate is unbelievable and no matter what Ferguson says, he must be regretting letting him go. Goals and highlights below!!!

We played decent for periods last night and managed to get the win, we will have to play a lot better to beat Man Utd away from home though. When we played them at their own game and attacked them last night we looked good, the problem was we sat back way to much and let Utd put pressure on us. I feel we should go to Old Trafford and attack them throughout, that's when we are at our most dangerous and that is when Utd look most vulnerable.

I don't have a lot more to say as I still slightly overwhelmed, but one last thing I must point out is the teams work rate last night. They all worked very hard all the way through the game, at times our passing was bad and our marking was poor but as long as they are giving their all, then that can be forgiven.

I just hope the lads go to Old Trafford and maintain their advantage, we can do it CTID!!!