Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was proud of his players despite their Europa League elimination at the hands of Sporting Lisbon.

Mancini believes the manner of his side's fightback will stand them in good stead for the weeks ahead.

He said: "If we have the same spirit as we had in the second half we can win the next game against Chelsea.

"And I am confident for the Premier League because we stayed on top for seven months and now we are in second position, one point behind. I am very confident we can win the title.

"I think that now it will be a good fight until the end of the season because we have only the Premier League and we can put all of our strength into this. I think it will be good."