Manchester City’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title may be over, but that’s no reason to stop winning matches, says assistant manager David Platt.
Manchester United confirmed their crown last week, leaving City with little to play for in the league, except cementing second place.
However, Platt believes losing a single match is enough motivation for the players to finish the season on a good run.
“We don’t need the stimulus and motivation of going for trophies to go out there and perform,” he said.
“We want to win football matches, that is what the players want to do.
“They don’t like getting beaten, which they did at Tottenham last week, even though we controlled the game for large periods.”
City’s first priority is the make sure the chasing pack of Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are kept at bay.
And once that is confirmed, the club can begin to look forward to next year and their bid to regain the Premier League from the Red Devils.
“Maybe once we have made sure nobody can come past us we can look at some kind of strategy for next season,” said Platt.
“Football is no different to horse racing, you want to show them a racecourse because you can stand them in good stead the following year.
“We will have a look at that later.”
The Citizens’ immediate focus, however, is this month’s FA Cup final – Roberto Mancini’s side take on Wigan Athletic.
They can salvage some success from this season with silverware at the Wembley showpiece, but their other remaining fixtures are still important.
“At this moment in time our focus and intensity is to make sure we amass full points, secure second position and win an FA Cup final,” Platt added.
“Once we have done that we will look at other things.”
Image courtesy of Manchester City, via YouTube, with thanks.
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