City confident of forward boost against Gunners

MANCHESTER: Manchester City are hopeful Mario Balotelli and David Silva will be fit for their match away to Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday.

Balotelli was absent from City’s 1-0 victory over Blackpool at Eastlands on Saturday, a result that saw Roberto Mancini’s men stay second on goal difference from leaders Manchester United, with a minor knee problem dating back to surgery at the start of the season.

Spain winger Silva limped off in the win over Blackpool but City coach David Platt is optimistic the former Valencia man will be able to feature at the Emirates.

The game against Arsene Wenger’s side could be pivotal in the title race and Mancini will be desperate for the duo to be available.

“Silva got a bang on his knee and just opened his knee up a little bit,” Platt said.

“The pleasing thing was that he walked off the pitch and hopefully it’s not anything too serious,” the former England midfielder added.

“Mario had a knee problem. In the early part of that operation, a bit of blood leaked in there. Every now and again he has a little swelling on it.”

Big-spenders City continue to be linked with Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko and while Platt insisted he could not comment on the potential deal, he insisted Mancini already had a squad packed with quality.

“We’ve got a complement of players that makes us competitive until the end of the season.

“If there’s a bit of business we can do to make us even more competitive for the seasons to come, if it’s good business they’ll do it.”

City have responded to their 2-0 defeat to Everton before Christmas with three straight victories.

Adam Johnson scored the only goal against Blackpool, with Carlos Tevez subsequently missing from the penalty spot.

Platt believes the squad depth that big-spending City enjoy is paying off during the congested holiday fixture schedule.

“The festive period favours the top clubs when you’ve got so many games in such a short space of time.

“They’ve got the ability to change things around without losing quality. The majority of the players were fresh and hadn’t played on Dec 28 and we juggled it around and got nine points.”