City to seek to persuade Distin

Stuart Pearce insists he will do “everything in his power” to keep Sylvain Distin at Manchester City.

The French defender, 28, is out of contract at the end of the season and will be able to talk to prospective buyers in two months. A new four-year deal bas been lying on the table unsigned since the summer.

City boss Pearce said: “I want Sylvain to stay and have been saying so from day one. We will do everything in our power to convince him his future lies here.

“The more good days you have and the more good results you have the more it convinces a player they want to stay. He enjoys working in Manchester and working for this club.

“We have to make sure the results go in the right direction so he will want to be part of what are trying to achieve.”

According to Pearce, correcting City’s away form is a priority, starting at struggling Charlton on Saturday.

City have taken only one point on the road from five games going into the match at The Valley.

Pearce said: “Our away results have been awful, no mistake about it. We need more leadership and more resilience throughout the team in these games.

“We have put ourselves under pressure with our away form and need to turn it around.”

Charlton find themselves rooted to the foot of the table after Iain Dowie replaced the long-serving Alan Curbishley.

Pearce added: “It was like taking over from Brian Clough. Alan stamped himself on that club as he had been there a long time and did a very good job.

“There was always going to be a transitional period. There are signs they are coming out of it. Iain is a very well organised manager and it will be a tough game for us.”