Manchester City will battle to retain Premier League title until last kick of the season insists goalkeeper Joe Hart

Goalkeeper Joe Hart claims Manchester City will fight to retain their Premier League title to the very last game of the season - even if winning the league becomes mathematically impossible.

Manchester City's hopes of retaining their title look slim with rivals Manchester United holding a 12-point lead at top of the table with just 11 games remaining.

The champions boosted confidence after a run of three league games without a win by seeing off third-placed Chelsea on Sunday and Hart is determined to keep the dream alive.

The England goalkeeper, who saved a penalty from Frank Lampard in the 2-0 victory, said: ''Even if there is one game to go and we are 12 points behind, we'll still believe. We've got to.

''We've got to keep fighting, you never know. We have just got to keep going.

''It's going to be really hard, we've got a lot to do but we're going to have a damn good go at doing it.''

Manager Roberto Mancini was scathing of his players after a dismal and damaging defeat at Southampton just over a fortnight ago but Hart claims their spirit was never in doubt.

The 25-year-old, himself subject of individual criticism from Mancini since the loss at St Mary's Stadium, said: ''We have got it, no doubt about it.

''We all under-performed against Southampton - that's gone, you can't do anything now, you move on from that. You have got to look forward.

''You can speculate and talk about the past but we have just got to look forward and try to win. The only way is up for us.''

City are not in action again until they travel to struggling Aston Villa next Monday, by which time they could be 15 points behind United.

Mancini hopes captain Vincent Kompany will be fit to return after five games out with a calf injury which has taken longer than expected to heal.

Mancini said: ''The calf is a strange injury, and it is very dangerous. I hope we can recover him for Aston Villa.''

Midfielder Gareth Barry will hope to prove his fitness from an ankle problem while Mancini has also revealed right-back Maicon faces a month on the sidelines after a knee operation.

The Brazilian missed the Christmas programme and the whole of January with a knee injury but had made three substitute appearances this month.

Mancini said: ''He has had surgery on his knee, but in a month he can recover. The operation was to clean his meniscus.''

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli needs to be loved then he will win you the league says Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes that Manchester City still have a great chance of winning the Premier League if manager Roberto Mancini shows Mario Balotelli some love.

Where is the love? Mario Balotelli can be decisive in Manchester City retainign the league title if handled correctly says Zlatan 

Both players, who were team-mates at Inter between 2007 and 2009, have had more than their fair share of controversies as well as spellbinding moments on the pitch.

Mancini has indulged the young forward through his mixed career at the Etihad Stadium but in recent months appears to have grown weary with him, with the suggestion Balotelli may be sold this month if a suitable buyer can be found.

However, Ibrahimovic believes that his former team-mate represents City's best chance at overhauling the gap between themselves and current league leaders United, as long as he is treated right, insisting to spend time with Balotelli is to fall in love with him.

"If any player can retain the title for them it is Mario," Ibrahimovic told the Daily Mail.

"All the class that Manchester City have I would still say Mario is the most capable.

"Roberto will know the same as me that the way to get the best out of Mario is to love him."

Ibrahimovic is enjoying an excellent season with his current club Paris Saint-Germain, a cash-rich team that he believes can become one of the powerhouses of European football.

"Paris is a club in major transition," the 31-year-old former AC and Barcelona striker said in the Qatari capital Doha, where the club is training during the French league's winter break.

"We have some fantastic players but this project only began a year-and-a-half ago and I have only been here six months but I have seen things advance very, very quickly."

Ibrahimovic is the leading scorer in Ligue 1 with 18 goals and said he and his team-mates were working hard every day to improve to the standard of Europe's biggest clubs.

He added that he had "aged 10 years" since arriving at the Parc des Princes from the San Siro six months ago, given the massive scrutiny of big-spending PSG, owned by Qatari investors, and interest in his performances.

"For me, everything has been positive but in the end everything depends on the results. If we win, everything will be better," he said.

Carlo Ancelotti's team go into the second half of the season joint top with Lyon and Marseille and also have a Champions League last 16 encounter with Valencia to look forward to on February 12.

Ibrahimovic accepted that a move to PSG, whose reputation has not been matched by silverware in recent years, may have been seen as a surprise but he said the transfer was all geared towards helping the club develop.

"I knew when I came here, it would be a big thing for the media because to come to Paris was not necessarily expected for a player at the peak of his career," he added.

"If you look at the project, the people behind the club and the players who have come here, the situation is different.

"There are clubs like Paris or Manchester City who want to become big clubs and the best players will not necessarily decide to join a club based on their history, it will also come down to a new project and new excitement.

"For the rest of the season, we have to concentrate on all competitions, even the French Cup. We are training every day to achieve our goals and we want to win everything."

Micah Richards makes point to Manchester City and England in central in victory over Sunderland

The petulance of Mario Balotelli, storming directly down the tunnel to the Manchester City dressing room after being substituted in the second half, again dominated the soap opera headlines that attend the Premier League champions’ every move but, at the other end of the field, there was a far more significant development for both club and country.

Micah Richards, playing for City for the first time in five months in the centre-half position many feel is his best, turned in the sort of performance that suggested he is an obvious replacement for shamed and recently-retired England defender John Terry.

Persistent question marks remain over Richards’ ability at the very highest level – as the fact he possesses just 13 caps from a near six-year international career testifies – but, at the age of barely 24, he is surely worthy of strong consideration, even allowing for his strange decision to remove his name from the stand-by list for last summer’s European Championship squad.

“I think Micah is a fantastic player and he deserves to be in the national team,” said team mate Pablo Zabaleta. “Micah came back to the team, he was very solid at the back. He is young, he is strong and he can give to England what he gives to Manchester City. He can play either centre back or right back.

“Terry’s not in the international team any more so maybe that is a good chance for him to get into the England team again.”

Richards’ average of a couple of caps per year is all the more mysterious given his versatility and, perhaps, the athletic youngster has been a victim of his own success, considered good at both defensive positions but great at neither by a succession of England managers.

“He can play both positions, centre-back and right-back,” continued Zabaleta. “He’s played before in this position and looking at this season, we probably we have Macion, me and Micah (at right-back) so it’s good too see Micah as a centre-back.

“He’s a very good player, he can play in both positions so for the team its good when you’ve got players who can play in different positions – Micah had a fantastic game today.”

Richards himself declines to discuss his standing with Hodgson and the national squad although, having formed an impenetrable pairing with Joleon Lescott in front of England goalkeeper Joe Hart on Saturday, it is tempting to imagine he can envisage a return to the international fold.

“I was excited to be back out there after being out for so long, me and Joleon haven’t played together too many times,” said Richards. “A lot of people don’t realise how good he is. He’s played for England and he’s a top class centre back. He showed that last season.

“People always say the foreigners make City’s team but we have a good six or seven English lads in the squad. When we come in and get our chance we give 100% and they did that today.”

Richards’ return coincided with City’s first clean sheet of the season – although perhaps it was no coincidence – although the England man was arguably not even the best defender on display. Full-back Aleksandar Kolarov was a force in defence and scored a magnificent fourth-minute direct free-kick before laying on a second goal for Sergio Aguero, whose 55th minute introduction had so infuriated Balotelli.

The Italian forward is clearly becoming an irritant to manager Roberto Mancini and coach David Platt who refused to answer questions properly when quizzed over Balotelli’s show of disrespect as he left the field.

As City proved with last season’s Carlos Tevez debacle, of course, such distractions matter little to the club, given their colossal financial resources and a squad whose depth is unmatched in the Premier League and James Milner’s late direct free-kick completed the rout and their 33rd unbeaten home league game.

Far more worrying have been City’s defensive performances to date and, for this reason, their display in overwhelming a poor Sunderland team that had somehow remained unbeaten until this point, could prove to be significant.

“You always know that when you play against Manchester City you are going to be busy,” said goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, one of the few Black Cats to emerge with credit. “In games like this you want to keep it goalless as long as you can, but by conceding early it meant a tough game got even tougher. After going ahead early City pressed us really high up the pitch and created lots of chances.”

Many more teams look poised to experience the same problem in the weeks to come.

Roberto Mancini's son Andrea joins Spanish third division side Valladolid B

A lot to live up to: Roberto Mancini's son Andrea was released bu Manchester City and now joins Spanish third division side Valladolid 

The 19 year-old was released by the English champions at the end of last season after loan spells at Oldham and Italian side Fano, and has signed a one-year deal with the reserve side of the newly-promoted Primera Division club.

That does mean, though, that Mancini is eligible to play in La Liga should he be called upon, and he is desperate to get his chance to play in the Spanish top flight.

He said: ''It is something very important for me. Valladolid is a good team in the Spanish league and I am going to have to work hard.

''I have to win my chance in the youth team to play in the Primera with Valladolid, but if I work hard I don't see any reason why it can't happen.

''My great-grandmother, who died when I was a child, always told me she was from Valladolid, although I personally don't know the city.