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Manuel Pellegrini insists he will not change City’s approach to away games despite the Blues’ flagging title fortunes.

The manager believes he is getting the tactics correct, but that the team is being let down by individual mistakes which have brought four Premier League losses from six games on their travels this season.

Pellegrini has been digesting the latest defeat, a 1-0 reverse at Sunderland, while he is on a visit to Abu Dhabi during the international break, along with players Fernandinho and Richard Wright.

And he ruled out the suggestion that he may be getting something wrong, insisting: “It’s not a question of tactics.

“We’ve won just four points out of 18 away from Etihad, but I think we are not playing badly. If you review all the matches, we had a lot more chances than the home teams, but some individual mistakes stopped us from getting the three points. I am absolutely convinced by the way we’re playing.

“I’m always thinking about our performances, not only when we’ve had a defeat but also when we win.

“Of course, the best thing before the international break is to win because then you’ve got 15 days without a match, and in our case we’re left with just four or five players, no more, to prepare with during that time.”

City can get back on track by beating title rivals Tottenham, one point above them in the table – and Pellegrini has already ruled Andre Villas-Boas’s side out of the reckoning.

“The Premier League is very close this year – there are six clubs challenging, with very little difference between one team and another,” he said.

“We have a lot of points to fight for, and I think at the end it will be between Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City.”