Mancini eyes City improvement

Roberto Mancini believes Man City are steadily improving as the season goes on and will be peaking after the international break.

The defending champions left it late on Saturday to claim all three points at Fulham but remain firmly in the title hunt in the early stages with Edin Dzeko's late strike ending a four-match winless run. City climbed up to fourth on the back of the win at Fulham, level on points with arch rivals Manchester United but four behind leaders Chelsea. Punters looking to use their free bet will have noted that the Citizens have not started the season as they did last year, but Mancini insists his side is starting to get it together. "I was worried because we continued to play well and had chances," Mancini said. "I think that we were very close to the same we played last year. "The problem we had was we didn't have all the players in pre-season. Twelve players started their pre-season 10 days before the championship began, which is difficult. "I think, in my opinion, maybe after the international break we will be OK." Mancini may need to manage his squad with a difficult Champions League group to contend with - facing Borussia Dortmund at the Etihad on Wednesday before hosting Sunderland at the weekend.