Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola believes his team need to focus on one game at a time after his side missed the chance to go second in the league with an uneventful 0-0 draw against Stoke City on Wednesday night.
The Citizens only managed one shot on target, their worst attacking performance of the season so far. Sergio Aguero struggled to have his usual influence on the game, whilst the usually effective David Silva couldn't stamp his authority against a solid Stoke side.Despite the result, Guardiola seemed keen to switch his attention to the next game, an FA Cup quarter-final clash against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
"They defended deep and it was complicated to find the players between the lines. We were there in the last minutes. I don't have regrets about how they ran, how they fought," said Guardiola in an interview withManCity.com.
"It's not easy when the opponents are there. We created a lot of situations for the last pass and sometimes we missed it.
"When Silva came in, we created a few more chances. When you analyse the chances we had, I don't really remember more than one Stoke chance."
Pep made a number of changes to his starting eleven, with Raheem Sterling replaced by Jesus Navas on the wing, and John Stones dropping to the bench. When quizzed about the changes that he made, Guardiola was keen to highlight the fact that they are still challenging in three major competitions.
A good night for Man City to dust a disappointing 0-0 under the carpet
"The priority is the next game. In two and a half days, we have another game.
"In three or four days, we travel to France to play Monaco and then we have another game against Liverpool. We have to make rotations when we play a lot of games."
Manchester City remain third in the Premier League, 10 points off of leaders Chelsea with 11 games to play. Guardiola's side also make the trip to Monaco next week in the Champions League, with the Citizens hoping to hold on to their 5-3 advantage from the first leg at the Etihad.
Here's how it stands at the top of the #PL table after @ManCity fail to find the net at home for the first time this season... pic.twitter.com/7fXjnypNxs