Roberto Mancini blasts his strike-force

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has urged his star-studded strike force to improve after recent results.

The Premier League champions slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat against Sunderland on Boxing Day, despite having more possession and shots than their rivals.

Alongside Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez, who started against the Black Cats, the Italian has Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli at his disposal.

The quartet have managed just three goals in City’s last eight games, and Mancini believes that they must improve if the club are to challenge Manchester United for the league title:

“We still have a big problem that we don’t score, and we need to change.” He told the Manchester Evening News.

“Maybe we need to play without a striker, or with just one striker. We need to do something.

“If we want to win this championship we need to score like we did last year.

“We have top strikers, but maybe we are too soft when we get a chance because we think we have good players and maybe we feel we will score the next chance that comes along.

“We have four top strikers, and it is time that those top strikers started to score. That is what they are there for, to score goals.”

Mancini went on to suggest that he will not attempt to bring in a striker to solve their problems next month:

“We can’t keep thinking of bringing players in.

“We have a good team, good strikers, but we need them to be strong when they get a chance.”