Strikerless City need new approach against Palace - Pellegrini
LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, without three first choice strikers, has urged his side to conjure up an alternative way of beating Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Sergio Aguero are all on the treatment table at the Etihad Stadium and in their absence Pellegrini is hoping attacking midfielders Samir Nasri and David Silva can spell trouble for 16th-placed Palace.
"The three strikers are out for tomorrow," Pellegrini told a news conference on Friday. "None of them are fit so we have to arrange the team without Jovetic, Dzeko and Aguero.
"We will try to play in another way. I hope that midfielders will arrive from the second line and we score in another way.
"I know that we play against a team that defends very well also so we will see what is the best solution."
Captain Vincent Kompany will be absent for the visit of Palace after limping off in City's 1-0 win over Leicester City last weekend.
With leaders Chelsea not playing Stoke City until Monday, three points for second-placed City would take them level with Jose Mourinho's side on 39 points.
A four-goal victory, however, would put City top of the table, but Pellegrini believes it is more important to end the first half of the league season with as many points as possible.
"That is very important," the Chilean said. "Not for the pressure we can put on Chelsea but it is very important to add three more points and to finish the first round of games with the most amount of points we can.
"We cannot drop any more points here at home because we already dropped the same number of points we did last season."
Pellegrini also said a decision on Frank Lampard's future will be decided soon, with the 36-year-old's loan deal from MLS side New York City due to expire in January.
"We'll see. It is not just our decision," he said. Of course I want him to stay but I cannot say 100 percent at this moment."
(Reporting By Michael Hann; editing by Martyn Herman)
