MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has told his side they must improve their away form starting with Saturday's match at West Ham.
City have yet to register a win on their travels in the Premier League this season, having lost at Cardiff and Aston Villa while being held to a draw by Stoke.
Pellegrini's men may only be three points adrift of leaders Arsenal but for a team with title aspirations the Chilean is well aware they cannot afford too many more downbeat away days.
"Of course we are worried about that," Pellegrini said Friday. "I think we deserve more points away, the way we are playing, but the reality says we have one point from nine so we need to win."
City have four successive away games spanning three competitions in the coming weeks.
After West Ham, they travel to Russia for a Champions League tie with CSKA Moscow before returning to Premier League action in London against Chelsea a week on Sunday ahead of another away trip, to Newcastle in the League Cup.
"Now we play four games in a row away so it is the best moment, first to win away against West Ham and then to repeat the triumph we had against Pilsen in the Champions League," Pellegrini said.
He insisted injuries and poor concentration, rather than a lack of respect for their opponents, had been the cause of City's poor away form this season.
"What happened at Cardiff and Aston Villa was not because we were not prepared for the atmosphere.
"There were a lot of important reasons why we couldn't win - but I think we played very well against Aston Villa.
"We must address a lot of unnecessary mistakes, unnecessary fouls, our concentration at set-pieces, and continue playing the way we have been doing until now.
"If we see the statistics of the games we played away, of course we must be worried because Villa scored three goals and Cardiff scored three goals.
"It is a thing we must improve, not only with Vincent Kompany. We must improve the performance of all of our defending as a team."
Key defender Kompany is set to miss the trip to Upton Park with a groin injury sustained in the victory over Everton a fortnight ago.
"Vincent is working hard. He is not ready to play but I hope next week he will be," Pellegrini said.
