Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has slammed the timing of their Carling Cup quarterfinal with Arsenal.
City's manager is furious that his team must face Arsenal in a Carling Cup quarter-final on Tuesday night, having had little more than 48 hours to recover from a frenetic 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
Mancini will make 11 changes to his starting line-up but is so frustrated that he claimed he considered making a protest by fielding a team made up purely of "14 and 15-year-olds".
"We will change all the team because this is an incredible situation," said Mancini. "Arsenal played on Saturday, we play Sunday evening. Monday travel to London and then we play Tuesday night.
"It is incredible. I think this is the reason why the national team arrive for European Championships, World Cups and they are failing. The players don't have time to recover."
Mancini added: "To play again in two days like this so soon after the Champions League is incredible. We should play with 11 young players, maybe 14 or 15 years old. To make a statement? Yes."