Manchester City will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to six games when they face Crystal Palace in a Capital One Cup encounter. The Citizens endured a disappointing month of September which saw them suffer three defeats. Their 0-0 draw against arch rivals Manchester United was the only match in which the league leaders dropped points in their last five games.
Pellegrini will once again be without star players Sergio Aguero and David Silva whereas Ivorian Wilfried Bony has failed to live up to the billing. The former Swansea man has managed just two goals in all competitions this season with both his strikes coming against Bournemouth.
With Bony failing to provide the firepower, Pellegrini might give youngster Kelechi Iheanacho the chance to prove his worth. The 19 year old has produced some impressive performances from the bench, including his cameo against Crystal Palace back in September when he scored his first senior goal to give the Citizens a 1-0 victory.
He is poised to be given the opportunity to sink the Eagles for the second time this season and his manager is hopeful that the young Nigerian can make use of the opportunity presented to him.
"We'll see tomorrow if Kelechi will start," Pellegrini told reporters.
"As a manager, it's important for every club to always buy good players and then to work to develop young players who can arrive into the first-team.
"For our club it's important to bring young players from the academy to the first-team.
"It's not just a case of using young players if you don’t think they have a future with the club."
Pellegrini gave debuts to four youngsters in City's 4-1 win over Sunderland in the previous round including the likes of Patrick Roberts, George Evans and Manu Garcia. However the Chilean has insisted that he will be taking the competition seriously.
"The Capital One Cup an important competition for the club," he continued.
"When you play a final at Wembley with 90,000 people it's an important cup. We must try to continue."
Palace on the other hand come into this match at the back of two straight defeats. After suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham, the Eagles put forth an improved performance against Leicester City last time out but suffered a 1-0 defeat.
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