Dalglish warns City: money is no guarantee of success

Kenny Dalglish has issued a reminder that Manchester City's wealth offers no guarantee of instant success, despite Roberto Mancini facing the same "jealousy" that he did when he arrived at Blackburn Rovers, then bankrolled by owner Jack Walker, and took them to a Premier League title.

The two sides meet at Anfield tonight, with City desperate for a win after Tottenham's and Chelsea's weekend wins maintained pressure for Champions League places.

"It's not his fault that Manchester City have got wealthy owners and are prepared to spend money," Dalglish said of Mancini. "But there is no guarantee of instant success just because he has money at his disposal. There is nobody anywhere who has won a trophy without having had some money to spend. He might have more to spend than most people would expect, or most people would hope for, but along with that comes added pressure."

Dalglish faces pressure of his own, with the Liverpool manager's job still not his permanently and a tough task ahead to salvage a Europa League place from the wreckage of this season. With just seven matches remaining and eight points to make up on fifth-placed Tottenham, a game against City is not exactly what Dalglish needs ahead of next Sunday's game at Arsenal.

Dalglish was indignant at suggestion that he, like Mancini now, had great riches at Blackburn, when he arrived in 1991. "People believed that the players were getting paid fortunes," he said. "We just laughed at it. It was ignorance. People didn't know what the financial situation was. It was Jack's money and if you look at the money that was spent and came back in you'd have to say Blackburn did quite well out of it."

Dalglish is without Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger for the season, with Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly also missing tonight. City have Pablo Zabaleta back from compassionate leave, while keeper Joe Hart, speaking at a supporters' group in Poynton, south Manchester, made an emotive defence of controversial young Mario Balotelli.

"I think he'll appreciate that sometimes he doesn't handle situations great," Hart said. "But he wasn't born a great public speaker or a great person that acts under pressure. He was born a great footballer and that can never be questioned."