Manchester City 3-1 Southampton: Pellegrini Postgame

Manchester City Manager Manuel Pellegrini spoke following the 3-1 MCFC win over Southampton on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium.

On Sergio Aguero's withdrawal after 60 minutes:

"Kun came off as a precaution. I spoke with him before the game and we said he would play 65 minutes. He has a kick in his heel, but nothing important.

"He has played three games in a row and that's why he came off - it's important to see with the medical staff how he recovers from this game.

On the team's reaction to adversity:

"I was very pleased with the team's reaction. We were a little nervous until the third goal, but I'm happy with the performance and the result."

On the League Cup Quarterfinal Tuesday vs Hull City:

"We must try to recover the players for Tuesday. It's important for us to reach the semi-final of the League Cup."

On the title chase:

"If you want to be involved in the title race you cannot drop more points at home,"

"We've lost already six points against Liverpool and West Ham. It's not easy playing so many games with the same players but I think the start was really important.

"We played on Wednesday a very difficult game and we didn't have 72 hours to recover from that game - Southampton had the whole week.

"The third goal of Alex fortunately killed the game for us."

"We'll choose the XI for the Capital One Cup on Tuesday - maybe we didn't have a good week but we continue in the Champions League, the Capital One Cup and the Premier League.

"It's not a crisis - it's a very good season."