Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has told Carlos Tevez he can still have a role to play this season.

Mancini insists Tev is a big part of his plans - and could start against Bayern Munich tomorrow with Mario Balotelli banned.

The City boss said: "He has a chance of starting.

"He's still an important player for us. In previous years he's scored 20 goals, this year he has started only twice.

"But now there are a lot of games and he'll get his chance.

"I hope we can keep him focused. We have four strikers and it's impossible that we can play with them all."