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Roberto Mancini saluted his squad players after the Blues cruised into the FA Cup fourth round without nine regular starters.

Javier Garrido, Dedryck Boyata, Vladimir Weiss, and Benjani all stepped from the shadows to play vital roles in a comfortable 1-0 win at a freezing cold Riverside Stadium.

Boyata and Weiss made their first senior starts and Mancini was pleased with what he saw.

“I have never been afraid of giving young players there chance in the side. It is important for us as a big club to know that we can rely on the younger players if we need them,” declared the City chief.

“Vladimir has shown what he can do in a couple of substitute appearances and Dedryck has been doing really well in training.

"This was Dedryck’s first chance to
shine at this level and I thought he did
very well. The game will have given
him confidence and helped him
mentally to know that he is part of the
squad"

“For me both young players have bright futures and that is not just good for them but also the club. It is important to me and to the owners and to the fans as well that we continue to bring players through our Academy.”

The Italian admitted that his section for the game had been forced due to injuries and tired legs. The latest victim is Brazilian Robinho but he could be back in the running for Wednesday night’s visit of United.

“Robinho has a small problem with his groin but I think he will be ok for midweek. I hope so,” said the manager who now has three wins and three clean sheets to his credit.

A groin problem is what forced Micah Richards off at half time against Middlesbrough and he is now a doubt for the Carling Cup tie.

Mancini though was pleased with the afternoon’s work.

“I like cup football and I want to do well in the FA Cup as well as the Carling Cup,” he said.

“I was pleased with the performance from the team. I enjoyed it but most of all I want to congratulate our supporters for making the game thorough the bad weather and then giving us such great support. Seeing them so happy made the win even better.”

from mcfc.co.uk

"I have never been afraid of giving young players there chance in the side. It is important for us as a big club to know that we can rely on the younger players if we need them,” declared the City chief.

Mark ( Blue Army ) wrote:

A groin problem is what forced Micah Richards off at half time against Middlesbrough and he is now a doubt for the Carling Cup tie.

IanBishopsHaircut wrote:

A groin problem is what forced Micah Richards off at half time against Middlesbrough and he is now a doubt for the Carling Cup tie.

Fuck me we are gonna have no defenders for this CC tie at this rate...I hope to god we have a couple in the pipeline that we can sign before Wednesday!

Rag_hater wrote:I think he still feels like a youngster himself judging by that hat he was wearing.

IanBishopsHaircut wrote:

Mark ( Blue Army ) wrote:

A groin problem is what forced Micah Richards off at half time against Middlesbrough and he is now a doubt for the Carling Cup tie.

Fuck me we are gonna have no defenders for this CC tie at this rate...I hope to god we have a couple in the pipeline that we can sign before Wednesday!

ronk wrote:Nice soundbites there, hopefully the media will run it and point out just how youthful a squad we have. Garrido and Zabaleta are 24, Micah is 21, Boyata is 19. Even Kompany when he came back is 23.

de Jong is old, he recently turned 25, which is Tevez's age. Weiss is 20.

Missing players make the rest of the team older (Ireland, Johnson, Nedum, Adebayor etc.)

For years we've had a young squad but other teams get all the attention. A lot of the stories we'll be hearing will be about scum playing youth teams that are probably older than ours.