Man City boss Pearce again complains about lack of investment

He said: “Chelsea are a fantastic team but one of their players earns in five weeks what I have spent on players this season.

“We haven’t got the luxury of spending £5m or £10m on five players. That’s no criticism of the club or me pushing the buck somewhere else.

“Results aren’t good enough – that’s my responsibility. But we’re fighting against teams who have spent more.

“Aston Villa have just spent £15-£20m on players, Charlton spent £16m in the summer. You’ve got to keep up.

“But I’m not making excuses. The squad we have should be generating better results.

“The only way we can achieve that is making sure we get a win as quickly as we can.”