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Forget quadruple, Pellegrini tells Man City

Birmingham - Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini urged his team to take their minds off a potential quadruple and back on the Premier League following a breezy victory in the FA Cup.

City finished off a good week in the knockout competitions by cruising past Aston Villa 4-0 in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, just three days after making it to the League Cup final.

They are also into the knockout stages of the Champions League, but Pellegrini knows that his side must be focused for Tuesday's visit to Sunderland and cannot afford to slip up in the Premier League.

"We've had good results in both cups, but that is finished now and we must focus our minds on some very important games in the Premier League," he said.

"I don't think that's a good way of thinking, to think about trying to win everything. We must try and demonstrate with our performance today (Saturday) that we are able to try and do well in all the competitions.

"In my first season here we won two titles, but were out of the FA Cup in the quarter-finals. This season we're in the Champions League round of 16 so we must try and improve in that competition also.

"Our mind is not on what we can win, it is on the games we need to win. We have so many injured players that the FA Cup is more difficult because we have important games in the Premier League."

One issue that Pellegrini will not be overly concerned by is goalscoring, after youngster Kelechi Iheanacho helped himself to a hat-trick in Sergio Aguero's absence at Villa Park.

"I see him working everyday, so I know what he can do in the game," said the City manager, whose side are second in the league behind Leicester City.

"I received some criticism about not replacing Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko at the beginning of the season. My answer was that we have Kelechi."

Pellegrini added: "It is very important for him to take his chance and demonstrate why he's in the squad. To score a hat-trick is not easy, but I'm impressed because of the way I see him work and improve every day.

"He can play up there on his own because he scores, his movements are good. I wasn't thinking about saving money, I was thinking we have a young player who is very important for our club."

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