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Martin Demichelis has fought off heavyweight contender Eliaquim Mangala to keep his position as first-choice defensive partner to City skipper Vincent Kompany.

And the veteran Argentina international, who is being lined up for another year on top of his current deal, believes he deserves his place in the team.

Mangala is expected to return to the team for tomorrow’s FA Cup fourth round tie with Middlesbrough, and Demichelis is tipping him to develop into a top player.

But the 34-year-old was chosen by manager Manuel Pellegrini for last weekend’s big clash with Arsenal, and is in pole position for next week’s Stamford Bridge showdown with Chelsea.

The £40million arrival of France international Mangala from Porto in the summer appeared to signal a winding-down for Demichelis, giving way to the younger man and probably leaving the club next summer, when his current deal expires.

But it has not worked out that way. Mangala has been much more raw than expected, and the only big game Demichelis has not started this season was the home clash with Chelsea – when Mangala made a promising debut.

The new boy has not been so impressive in other games, and Pellegrini has constantly turned to Demichelis.

That has been a huge boost for Demichelis, whose career at City got off to a poor start, when he was mocked for his lack of pace and his ponytail.

He had the strength of character to prove his critics wrong, becoming a key player as City won the Premier League last season, with Kompany injured for long spells.

And he built on that by helping Argentina to the World Cup final after adding an Indian summer to an international career that appeared to be over.

Demichelis is proud of his record, saying: “I don’t want to be arrogant, but if you check the stats I am the player with the third most minutes in this Premier League season.

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“The goalkeeper always has the most, and then comes Yaya Toure, and after that Demichelis. That shows I am a professional player and that I try to keep injury-free.”

Demichelis got slightly carried away with the stats – by MEN Sport's reckoning, Gael Clichy has also played more minutes than him, pushing him to fourth place in the list.

But the point he is making still stands, and Demichelis also said that, despite his age, he bucked the trend by playing twice in 48 hours over Christmas, and then turning out again on New Year’s Day.

He, Mangala and Jesus Navas were the only players who played every minute of the blizzard-hit Boxing Day game at West Brom, the 2-2 draw with Burnley and the 3-2 win over Sunderland.

“It is almost impossible to play twice in two days, and I did it this season, playing on Boxing Day and then on the 28 and again on January 1,” he said. “Don’t ask me why, whether it was because other players are injured, or because I was lucky, but I played those games in a row.”

He and Mangala were a partnership right through the Christmas programme, but now Kompany is fit again they are fighting for one place – and Demichelis seems to have the edge.

The City boss has the Blues’ video analysis team’s extensive statistical breakdown of the two players’ performances to back up the evidence of his own eyes.

And a quick glance at the stats shows that there is not a great deal between the two players.

Indeed, Mangala has a big edge in terms of aerial duels, winning 66.1 per cent of his, opposed to 57.5 per cent for Demichelis.

His tackling record is also better, winning 82.8 per cent to 53.7 per cent, while the two men are similar in terms of duels won, Demichelis clocking 56.5 per cent and Mangala 58 per cent.

The two have almost identical passing accuracy, and the only area in which Demichelis beats th younger man is in interceptions – he has pulled off 41 to Mangala’s 13.

That is, perhaps, an indication of his better reading of the game, a crucial factor when Pellegrini has come to pick his teams for games against the best opposition.

Mangala is clearly a work in progress – he is big, strong and fast, but gets his body position and his field position wrong too often, and has clearly been targeted by opposition managers.

Demichelis has plenty of sympathy – he knows how hard it can be to change countries.

“Manga is the same age as I was when I went to Bayern Munich from Argentina,” he said.

“He is helped by the fact he has tremendous physical condition, but obviously he has things to learn. He is a very good guy and keen to improve, and I think he will become a very good player.”