Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini must conjure up something extra to beat United to Premier League title When you look at the spine of the Manchester City team - Joe Hart, Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Touré, David Silva and Sergio Agüero - it stands up to anything that we have seen at Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in seasons gone by. But City have undeniably given Manchester United too many chances to get back into the Premier League title race this season and, to varying degrees, they have been found wanting on each of the key elements that you must observe when dealing with a run-in. Roberto Mancini spoke of his players being tired after the defeat at Swansea earlier this month and that is something that you simply should never do. If players are told that they are tired, then they will believe it. At Liverpool, Bob Paisley would have had us out of the dressing-room had we even floated the subject! In 1980, we played three FA Cup semi-final games against Arsenal and the two replays went to extra-time. Either side of those ties, we had league games to play to win the league, but nobody once suggested we were tired. You just do not say it. City have also left the door open for United when they really should have left them dead and buried at the turn of the year. When they lost at home to Blackburn on New Year's Eve, City went to Sunderland the following day and lost. They were unlucky to lose, but the reality is that they would have put United out of the running had they won that day. It has happened too often. City have taken just nine points from 27 in their last nine games away from the Etihad Stadium and that will have given United so much encouragement. While City are feeling tired and frustrated at dropping points at places like Stoke, United's players will be jumping for joy and given a psychological lift as a result. Yes, City fought back brilliantly to beat Chelsea last week, but that was at home where they are seemingly invincible. Away from home, they do not look like winning and you worry whether the pattern will continue when they to go Arsenal, Norwich and Newcastle. Meanwhile, at Old Trafford, Ferguson will use City's slip-ups as motivation for his players and he will tell them that Monday night's game against Fulham is the biggest of their lives. He will demand more from every department of his team and send his players out to hammer Fulham - for the goal difference and the psychological impact it will have. City are not out of this by any means, but Ferguson will want to make the game at the Etihad Stadium on April 30 an irrelevance and City must improve their away form to stop that happening. There is no doubt that experience of being over the course is hugely important. I benefited from the experience of those around me when I was a young player at Liverpool and, as the years pass, you develop a sense of just knowing how to get things done and how to cope with the demands and spot the dangers at this stage of the season. But you never become immune to the pressure and United will not have it all their own way. City need to find something extra, however, if they are to alter the momentum and take their chance of winning the title.