Stoke City vs Man City - Weds 24Th Feb 19:45 pm

Must win? I know some City fans who don't think so, they would prefer to go for fourth but I disagree with them. We should go for both!!!

This is going to be a tough game again for us tonight but we can win, Stoke are going to give us a bad time tonight and we will need to be more physical against them. I am not suggesting that we go out with the intent to play in a physical style but when we have to get stuck in we must do it.

As far as I am concerned if we show our class tonight we will win, the problem is we don't know what side will turn up. After playing better against Liverpool I am hoping that we will continue to build on that and turn it on against Stoke, I think we can do that and win.

Man City Team News:
Carlos Tevez is still not back from Argentina so will not play, Adam Johnson is cup tied and Patrick Vieira is suspended. Martin Petrov is expected to still be out with a knee injury and Kolo Toure and Roque Santa Cruz will undergo late fitness tests.

Stoke City Team News:
Matthew Etherington and Danny Higginbotham are expected to undergo late fitness tests and Abdoulaye Faye and Andy Wilkinson will miss out through suspension.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Bridge, De Jong, Ireland, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Bellamy, Adebayor.

Possible Stoke City Line Up: Sorensen, Huth, Shawcross, Diao, Collins, Lawrence, Delap, Whelan, Sidibe, Fuller, Sanli.

My Prediction: Stoke City 1 - 2 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Lescott scores in a 2 - 1 City win.

Chelsea up next if we beat Stoke!

We have been drawn against Chelsea away in the next round of the FA Cup, if we beat Stoke of course.

If we do go through I am glad that we have got Chelsea, I wanted them when we got drawn against Stoke. I think I want them as early as possible to avoid the heartbreak of being knocked out later on in the competition if that were to happen. I know that's not a good way to think but if we are destined to win it then it is better to get the best teams out of the way as soon as possible in my opinion.

First we have to beat Stoke and hopefully we will, then it would be time to take on Chelsea and if we were to beat them, there are no teams left in the competition that we need to fear.

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.

Next up Scunthorpe!

City have been drawn away from home to Scunthorpe in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The tie is due to take place on the weekend of the 23rd and 24Th of January.

A nice easy draw for us should see us progress into the fifth round.

Middlesbrough 0 - 1 Man City (Benjani 45') *Video*

Another win and clean sheet for City and Mancini sees us head into the next round of the FA Cup.

Benjani's strike just before half time was enough to see us through to the next round, Benjani's movement was good which helped Petrov to pick him out, Benjani then took one touch and slotted home. Goal below!

I have to say I was surprised with the starting eleven for us today, it was weaker than I was expecting. We went with Given, Zabaleta, Richards, Boyata, Kompany, Sylvinho, Weiss , Garrido, De Jong, Petrov, Benjani. Tevez, Bellamy and Barry all found their way onto the field which I was also surprised about considering we play United in midweek, I think that Mancini was just trying to make sure that even one nil was going to be enough to see us win.

The first half was a little poor from both teams, a lot of our players didn't really seem to know what position they were playing in and in turn that meant we were all over the place. In the second half we were a lot more comfortable and took total control of the game, Boro huffed and puffed but ultimately never made Given make a save.

The main thing that I took from today's game was how stupid Vladimir Weiss made us all look, he was awful. We have all been shouting from the roof tops for him to get a chance and he let us down, he didn't get at people and take them on as we all have wanted. I am really disappointed with him as he did not take his chance at all.

All in all another win, another clean sheet and the next round of the FA Cup beckons.

Now bring on United!!!!!

Goal.

Middlesbrough vs Man City - Sat 2nd Jan 15:00 pm

Our first game of the new year sees us travel to play Boro at the Riverside in the FA Cup, winning the FA Cup would be amazing so lets hope we get a good start on the way to achieving that.

Boro have won two games on the bounce lately as they hit a bit of form, but they should not pose a threat to us. We are also in good form and are a much superior team to Boro, I would hope that the result of this game will turn out to be a comfortable City win.

I can't really see any problems for us from Boro tomorrow especially considering their injury problems, I expect us to put in a good professional performance and get the job done nice and easy. If our good form of late continues then I expect us to hammer Boro if I am honest and lets face it, it is about time we give Boro a good going over especially after that terrible defeat at the end of Sven's reign.

This competition is another good chance for us to reach Wembley together with the Carling Cup, I hope that the players and Mancini apply themselves properly and understand how important this competition is to us!

Man City Team News:
SWP is a major doubt with an ankle injury, Ireland is going to be missing with a hamstring injury. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor are both at the African Cup of Nations and Roque Santa Cruz is doubtful due to a calf injury. Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha are all still injured, Javier Garrido is expected to make his first start for some time.

Middlesbrough Team News:
Dave Kitson has returned to Stoke after his loan and Leroy Lita is suspended, Jeremie Aliadiere is struggling with an ankle problem. Isaiah Osbourne is ineligible and injured, David Wheater is struggling with his ankle and knee whilst Emanuel Pogatetz is also a doubt due to a hamstring injury. Seb Hines (ankle and knee), Didier Digard (back) and Matthew Bates (cruciate ligament) are all out.

Possible Man City Line Up: Given, Zabaleta, Richards, Kompany, Garrido, De Jong, Barry, Petrov, Tevez, Robinho, Bellamy.

Possible Middlesbrough Line Up: Coyne, Riggot, McMahon, Williams, Taylor, Hoyte, O'Neil, Johnson, Arca, Bent, Franks.

My Prediction: Middlesbrough 0 - 4 Man City.

Worth A Bet: Nigel de Jong scores in a 4 - 0 City win.