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By NEIL CUSTIS

MANCHESTER CITY have hit back at Emmanuel Adebayor for claiming they crack under pressure.

The former City striker alleged that his old team-mates start fighting with each other as soon as the heat is turned up.

Adebayor, who plays for Spurs against the champions at White Hart Lane tomorrow, said: “Whenever things are not going their way there will definitely be a fight or an argument on the pitch and that is how we can take them down.”

Defeat could see Roberto Mancini’s side lose their crown to Manchester United on Monday night, while Spurs are desperate for points in the race for a Champions League spot.

And Mancini’s assistant Brian Kidd stoked up the tension by giving Adebayor a verbal volley.

Kidd said: “With respect to Ade, he has not been around for the last couple of years and the boss has put silver on the sideboard in that time. So I hope they carry on fighting and arguing!

“If you want a fight and a confrontation, you can have it every day in a football club. You have only to look at the manager and the squad of players — they don’t like losing.”

They certainly will not like losing their title to United, as now seems certain. United are 13 points clear at the top and need six points from their final five games.

If City lose at Tottenham, Alex Ferguson’s side will be crowned champions on Monday with a home win over Aston Villa.

But Kidd says that nobody at City has given up hope after the way United imploded last season when they lost an eight-point lead with six games to go. Kidd said: “This time last year everybody said it was all over.

“Nobody thought Manchester United would drop eight points in six games.

“The title is not over yet, not until it is mathematically finished.

“It is United’s to lose but there will be some jittery moments with what happened last year.

“It was a bad experience for them and they will be shocked by it.

“I said it last year to the boss, it is not over until it is mathematically finished. We have got a group of players we can trust.

“Both teams can go to the end of the season without losing but both teams can drop points as well. You have got to be in the slipstream if the team above you drop points.”

Having said that, Kidd is full of praise for the way United have bounced back from last season to be so dominant in this campaign.

He said: “It doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been there and I keep hearing these stories that it is luck. It is not luck. It is ingrained in them.

“They keep going to the end — win, draw or lose.

“You have got to have great admiration for them for their consistency and how well they have done. And the best team always wins the league.”

While Mancini is now set to hand back the Premier League trophy to Ferguson, Kidd believes there is much more that links them than being title-winning managers.

Kidd worked with Fergie when they began their dominance over English football and he can see similarities between the two men.

He said: “The passion and the fact they are so driven. There is only one opinion that matters and that is the manager’s.

“When it comes to sorting the men out from the boys, Roberto is not afraid to make a big decision. He can handle big players. He is passionate. He doesn’t like losing, just like the players don’t like losing.”

City will give fitness tests to playmaker David Silva and striker Sergio Aguero tomorrow morning before their 1.30pm kick-off at White Hart Lane.

Aguero came off at half-time in Wednesday’s victory over Wigan feeling tightness in his hamstring.

Silva suffered a hamstring injury in the latter stages of the derby win over United and has missed the last two games.

Kidd said: “David has joined in with the group and had a bit of possession in a small-sided game. Sunday might be a bit too soon.”

 

 

 

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