A perfect chance to bounce back

The City roving reporter wrotes every week for Chron Sport


I RETURNED to the office after a few days off last week and it was very quiet following Saturday’s FA Cup blow.

You have to credit a great Arsenal side for beating City last Sunday week in the Premier League, but Saturday was pretty disappointing on a few levels.

Having said that, it is quite difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong against Middlesbrough. A lot has been made of the fact that the squad only returned from Abu Dhabi on Friday night, but I’m not sure about that. It wasn’t a great performance against a well-organised Boro side.

City have a brilliant chance to bounce back positively in the big Chelsea clash on Saturday - and what a massive game that is, given Chelsea will also be smarting after the FA Cup defeat by Bradford.

If Chelsea win then they will be eight points clear at the top and though there are still plenty of games left, it will be tough to claw that lead back in the closing months of the season.

It’s a ‘daren’t lose’ game if City are to stay on Chelsea’s coat-tails. It promises to be an absolute cracker.