Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Manchester City to select strong side for FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough

Manuel Pellegrini has vowed to select a strong side against Middlesbrough on Saturday as Manchester City look to regain the FA Cup.

City will be without the injured Samir Nasri, plus Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony, who are at the African Nations Cup representing Ivory Coast.

However, Pellegrini has said he expects Frank Lampard, who only lasted 20 minutes of their midweek friendly against Hamburg because of a rib injury, to be fit.

He also said he will not allow the Jan. 31 meeting with Chelsea, which he believes will be "very decisive" in the title race, to impact upon his team selection against Boro.

"Of course there are always opportunities for players to impress and stake a claim for a place but we are playing on Saturday and not in midweek and we will have a full week to recover before we play Chelsea so, with that in mind, I will try and put out the strongest team I can," he told City's official website.

Middlesbrough are second in the Championship and possess the division's best defensive record and Pellegrini added: "They are well organised and don't concede many goals so, unless we play with 100 percent intensity and concentration, we will find it difficult to progress into the next round of the FA Cup.

"I expect a tough game because Middlesbrough are doing very well in the Championship. I know their manager Aitor Karanka very well and he is doing an excellent job so far

"Middlesbrough may not be a Premier League team but they are fighting to win promotion and this will be a very difficult match and we need to be at our best to win. We are not in the Capital One Cup anymore and we want to do well in this competition because it was disappointing to lose in the quarterfinal last season."

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