Tuesday 5 March 2013 07:45, UK
Roberto Mancini insisted Manchester City would not give up on their title defence after cutting the gap on Manchester United back to 12 points with a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa.
City were particularly strong in defence and Mancini was again impressed with the performance of Matija Nastasic in the absence of Vincent Kompany. He said: "We are playing well. We didn't concede a lot of chances. It was difficult because for me Aston Villa are a good team and it is strange they are near the bottom. "At this moment we don't have Vinny, who is really important for us, but Matija is playing very well. "He is young and needs to improve to know the Premier League better, but I am very happy with his performance tonight." While Mancini says Kompany could return from injury in Saturday's FA Cup tie against Barnsley, Jack Rodwell had to go off with a hamstring problem in the first half at Villa Park and will need to be assessed.
