Mancini: Mario going nowhere

ROBERTO MANCINI has told Mario Balotelli: ‘You are going nowhere... so pull your finger out’.

Balo has been sending his stuff back to Italy and given notice on his rented Alderley Edge home in readiness for a move before Thursday’s deadline.

But no deal has been struck with Balotelli’s boyhood favourites AC Milan.

And Mancini says it is now time the moody striker knuckled down to help Manchester City.

The Etihad boss said: “Mario stays here.

“We didn’t have any requests about Mario and he has another three years on his contract.

“Mario should work well and try to get his place in the team because at the moment he doesn’t play — for many reasons.

“At the moment his performance is so-so. But he can improve because in next four months we have important and crucial games in Premier League and FA Cup.

“I hope Mario can help us win some trophies because he has the quality.

“We don’t have enough players. We are 18 players now, we can’t sell any players”

Balo’s training was again cut short by illness this week so the 22-year-old is struggling to be fit for today’s FA Cup trip to Stoke.

He has scored just one Premier League goal in what has been a miserable season so far for the £22million striker.

The Britannia has not been a happy hunting ground for Mancini but City did beat Tony Pulis side in the 2011 FA Cup final when Yaya Toure scored the only goal to lift the club’s first major trophy since 1976.

Mancini added: “I have good memories, it was a fantastic moment. We wanted to win that final to start to win trophies.

“To win a trophy after 35 years was very important for us because we worked hard and also for the club and our supporters. It changed our mentality.”

For this reason Mancini says he always plays his strongest possible side in the FA Cup believing at least one trophy a season will help keep the club on the right tracks.

He said: “In Italy, we used to rest players. In England, the FA Cup is more important — a very important trophy.

“I can understand some teams think about staying in Premier League and maybe prefer to rest some players. But I always play my strongest team.”

He will need to, as well. Since Stoke came up, City have met them four times in Premier League matches at the Etihad, winning there 3-0 three times and 2-0 once.

But it is a different story down the M6 at the Britannia where they have drawn 1-1 on their last three visits and lost 1-0 in 2009.

City also crashed out 3-1 in an FA Cup fifth-round replay at Stoke in 2010.

But Mancini said: “I think it is not only a problem for us.

“Every team that goes to the Britannia has a problem because Stoke at home is strong — play well, physical, set-pieces...

“There the pitch is smaller than the Etihad Stadium and probably they have a different approach to the game.

“There are sometimes some squads that play very strong at home and away are different. Stoke are like this.

“But the last two years we played well there and had a lot of chances to win and were really unlucky.”