Monday 18 April 2016 18:24, UK
Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester City's failure to maintain an interest in the title race was down to a number of factors and not solely on the imminent arrival of Pep Guardiola.
In February, Pellegrini himself made public the fact Bayern Munich coach Guardiola would be replacing him at the Etihad Stadium at the end of his three-year stint at the Allianz Arena.
City's form dipped almost immediately, losing three successive matches and falling well behind Leicester and Tottenham in the battle for Premier League supremacy.
After Saturday's 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the Chilean claimed the early news of his departure had had a detrimental effect on the form of the players.
But speaking ahead of Tuesday's match against relegation-threatened Newcastle, he clarified his remarks, saying: "The mathematical reason we are not challenging for the title is because we lost three games in a row at the start of February.
"We lost to Leicester and Tottenham at home and Liverpool away and three defeats in a row like that is not normal in this team.
"When you are in charge of teams, when you are involved in the season, you are in charge of the group then I don't think it is right to try and find different reasons.
"There is a lot of reasons but the reality is at the moment that we are in third position, not fighting for the title but also that we continue with our winning mentality and try to win."
City, who are now unbeaten in five matches and face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, lie 13 points behind leaders Leicester with five matches of the season remaining.
