The Eliaquim Mangala Injury - How Can Pellegrini Adjust to Overcome it?

Eliaquim Mangala has been far from a reliable performer in his 18 months at The Etihad. The French International who was highly touted when bought in the summer of 2014 from Porto has never really panned out the way the Manchester City brass would have liked.

This all having been said the subsequent difficulties the Blues backline have experienced since Mangala's injury in early January have reinforced the need to have a player with pace and a physical component to his game on the pitch in central defense. While Vincent Kompany's injury was seen by many to be a substantial blow to City's Premier League title hopes, Mangala being unavailable for the last six weeks may have been the fatal shot that exacerbated the situation caused by Kompany's absence.

Since Nicolas Otamendi and Martín Demichelis have both failed to stop the leaking in City's central defense and Mangala remains unavailable for selection how should Manuel Pellegrini plug the obvious hole in the side?

Do Bitter and Blue readers really believe Bacary Sagna is a viable central defense option? How about using Fernando in the role the way Javi Garcia was previously plugged into defense when needed? Could Yaya Toure fill that need against Spurs?