Pablo Zabaleta insists Manchester City will not be going through the motions as they look to rubber-stamp their place in the League Cup final on Tuesday night.
City are all but guaranteed to be playing at Wembley after thrashing West Ham United 6-0 in the first leg of their last-four clash a two weeks ago.
With such a commanding advantage, manager Manuel Pellegrini is likely to rest a number of key players at Upton Park but Zabaleta claims there will be no complacency.
The rightback, one of those who may be given a night off, said: “It doesn’t matter about the first leg.
“We have to go into that game thinking it’s a new game, even though we have six goals.
“We need to try and win it, like we are doing in other games at the moment. We are winning games and working hard.
“West Ham are in a tough moment, they are at home and will want to win it. So we need to take it seriously and we will.”
City are unbeaten in their past 17 games, 15 of which have ended in victories and Saturday’s 4-2 defeat of Cardiff City took them through the 100-goal barrier in just their 34th game of the campaign.
Two players who could come into the reckoning for City are striker Stevan Jovetic and midfielder Jack Rodwell. Both have been hampered by injuries throughout the season but are thought to be close to fitness.
West Brom may lose sponsorship in wake of Anelka
Meanwhile, the firm Zoopla are set to end its sponsorship of West Bromwich Albion in the wake of the controversy surrounding Nicolas Anelka’s “quenelle” gesture.
The property website has announced it will not seek to continue backing the club after this season.
Zoopla was unhappy at the continuing presence of Anelka in the team while his actions were investigated by the English Football Association.
It was also claimed that Zoopla had requested Anelka play in an unbranded shirt during West Brom’s Premier League game against Everton on Monday night.
There has been no confirmation of that but the company, which is co-owned by Jewish businessman Alex Chesterton, is to end its support after its obligations for this season end.
A statement from the company read: “Zoopla has been reviewing its position over the past few weeks in light of the actions of striker, Nicolas Anelka, during the match against West Ham over the Christmas period and has decided to focus its attention on other marketing activities after this season.”
Sunderland land second signing of transfer window
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has made his second signing of the January transfer window by acquiring Argentina defender Santiago Vergini on loan until the end of the season.
After signing fullback Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina on the same terms earlier this month, Poyet has added the commanding centre-back Vergini from Uruguayan side Atletico Fenix.
The South American, 25, has previously played with Olimpia in Paraguay and Verona in Italy, while most recently he was on loan with Argentine side Estudiantes after a spell with Newell’s Old Boys.
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