Mancini: We need time to blend

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini admits his side’s stuttering start to the season could be partly down to trying to bed in new players too quickly.

The defending champions are already four points behind Chelsea after three draws from their opening five games, including Sunday’s 1-1 stalemate with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

The Gunners were the better side for much of the match, although they needed an 82nd-minute equaliser from Laurent Koscielny to secure a point after Joleon Lescott’s first-half header.

Defensive midfielder Javi Garcia played the full 90 minutes while winger Scott Sinclair also made the starting line-up, although he was replaced at half-time by another summer signing, Jack Rodwell.

All three players were signed in August, while Garcia, Sinclair and defender Maicon did not arrive at the club until the final day of the transfer window, which Mancini admits has presented a challenge.

The Italian said: “We had new players only in the last two or three days of the market, and maybe these players don’t know their team-mates well and need time.”

City dropped only two points at home all season last campaign, drawing with Sunderland in March, and Mancini knows they need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.

He said: “The second year after winning a championship is always difficult and I hope we start to win in our next league game, because we need a win. But we need to improve if we are to do that.”

City are back in action tonight in the third round of the Capital One Cup against Aston Villa, where Mancini is likely to change his whole team, before a trip to London on Saturday to face in-form Fulham.

Lescott admitted dropping points at home so early in the season is a blow but he believes City deserve credit for digging in.

He added: “We probably didn’t get going as much as we’d like but we showed another side of our game is resilience.

The 30-year-old was back in the side after surprisingly being left on the bench for the Champions League defeat against Real Madrid last week.

“The gaffer made it clear that everyone’s got a part to play this season, and it was the same last year,” said Lescott.

Mancini will include youngsters Denis Suarez, Abdul Razak and Luca Scapuzzi in the squad for tonight’s game while Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli are likely to lead the line after only being substitutes against Arsenal.