Javier Garrido is ready to fill in for the injured Wayne Bridge should Roberto Mancini call upon his services this weekend.
The Spaniard is now the only recognised left-back in the Blues squad with Bridge sidelined for at least a month following a hernia operation, though Pablo Zabaleta, Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry have all prove they can adapt to the position if needed in recent weeks.
In the last few games we’ve seen other players slotting in at left-back when necessary, but hopefully I will get my chance to be involved in the team,” said Javi.
"I didn’t play for a while when Mark
Hughes was here, but when Roberto
took charge he gave me an opportunity
almost straight away."
“That gave me a lot of confidence and I think that showed through in my performances. “
Javi reckons Fulham will be a difficult to beat on their own ground and believes City can’t dwell too much on the fact the Cottagers are unbeaten in the last five Premier League meetings between the clubs.
“In my first season we drew 3-3 at Craven Cottage after being ahead,” he said. “And they came from 2-0 to draw 2-2 at our ground earlier this season.
“They’ve done really well against us in recent years, both home and away and they have always caused us problems. I’ve watched them a number of times in the Europa League and they’ve done really well and have a good manager in Roy Hodgson.
“They try and play good football and so do we, but they have definitely had the edge over the past three or four seasons, but there is no reason we can’t win this game – we need a victory to keep the pressure on the teams around us.
“I think every team who plays us now wants to beat us because of what has happened to the club in the past couple of years.
“I think sometimes we have had a stronger mentality against the best teams and the results against Arsenal and Chelsea have proved that to be true, but we have to have that same focus against every team we play if we are to finish in the top four.”
mcfc.co.uk
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:45 pm