Roberto Mancini has confirmed that Carlos Tevez will miss Tuesday's
Premier League encounter with Stoke after being allowed to return
to Argentina for family reasons.
Tevez was missing on Saturday as Manchester City were held to
a 1-1 draw by Tony Pulis' men in the FA Cup fifth round, and
Mancini is already planning without his star striker for the
midweek rematch.
"I don't think Carlos will be here," said Mancini.
"Hopefully he will be back in three days but that would mean
he couldn't play on Tuesday."
City missed Tevez's industry as they failed to take advantage
of a defensive calamity by Ryan Shawcross - who picked the worst
possible time to make such an horrific lapse as England coach Fabio
Capello was in the stands - which presented Shaun Wright-Phillips
with a simple tap-in.
Instead, they were undone by one of Rory Delap's famous long
throws as Ricardo Fuller powered home with Shay Given rooted to his
line.
"Shay couldn't have saved that," said Mancini.
"The problem was that our starting positions were bad. Stoke
ended up with two players free. That was the problem."
Wright-Phillips' display is bound to have caught Capello's
attention, while Wayne Bridge also produced a solid performance
before Mancini once again reaffirmed his belief the full-back will
make himself available for England's friendly against Egypt on
March 3 despite the likely presence of John Terry.
"Wayne played very well," said Mancini.
"He is a good player who can play for the national team and I
expect him to do so.
"That is what he told me and I think it is important for
him."
