MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini has insisted Manchester City did not make a mistake by deciding not to sign a striker this summer, and says he is unconcerned by his side's current lack of options at the position.
City allowed both Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic to leave and instead bought attacking midfielders Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne.
Leading scorer Sergio Aguero has had an injury-hit season, and is slated to miss a ninth game out of the last 12 with an ankle problem in Saturday's match at Stoke City.
Aguero's absence leaves City with Wilfried Bony as the sole fit senior striker, supported by teenager Kelechi Iheanacho.
Though Pellegrini stands by his choice, saying in a news conference: "When we decide, I said we are okay with this because we have Kelechi. Young players show every day they are maybe not 100 percent ready to play every game but I think he is a very good substitute and he is doing very well in the games he is playing.
"I am not concerned about why we didn't bring in another player because we have Kelechi, we have Raheem who can also play forward, so no problem."
City signed Bony in January 2015, but Pellegrini suggested they might not do so again in the forthcoming transfer window.
"It was a decision last year because we have the three players injured a lot of times before, so we didn't want to take the risk to finish the year in the same way," he explained.
"But in that year Kelechi was one year younger, so he was not the player he is today. We had Kun [Aguero], Dzeko and Jovetic. Jovetic and Kun have a lot of injuries in the first half of the season and Dzeko also. That's why we decide to bring Bony. I think in this case, the fourth should be Kelechi."
City have had 36 injuries already this season, but Pellegrini said: "It's the reality of lots of different clubs. Not only our team.
"I think Arsenal have the same problem. Liverpool has the same problem. Real Madrid have the same problem. So when you have to play so many games, especially here in the Premier League, that it's so intense every game, and so often it is not easy for the player not to have muscle injuries."