City need away-day win boost

MANCHESTER City goalkeeper Joe Hart has called on his team-mates to end their travel sickness at Watford on Saturday evening.

City have won three and drawn three of their nine Premier League away fixtures, picking up only 12 points out of a possible 27. A continuation of that form away from the Etihad Stadium would be insufficient for third-placed City to regain the title they surrendered to Chelsea last season.

And Hart knows that even without skipper Vincent Kompany – who is likely to be sidelined for a further month with a recurrence of a calf injury – City must show more consistency, particularly away.

Last weekend’s 4-1 home victory over Sunderland was entirely predictable and expected given their opposition’s woes, while the midweek stalemate at fellow high-fliers Leicester was acceptable, if not entirely satisfactory for Hart.

He said: “It’s a game we could and should have won, but we didn’t. Kasper Schmeichel did well and made a few good saves, but we maybe should have done better with the chances we had.

“We’re not where we should be right now in the table. But we are in the mix without really playing that well.

“We started the season strongly, but we’ve not been great over the last 12 games or so. But we’re in a good position and the two teams above us (Arsenal and Leicester) deserve to be there.”