Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala admits that "alarm bells" have been ringing during pre-season but is confident that they can turn it around ahead of their Premier League opener on Monday night.
City travel to the Hawthorns to face West Brom but do so on the back of a 4-2 defeat by Stuttgart on Saturday and a 4-1 loss to Real Madrid in late July.
Mangala is not overly concerned by the poor showings at this stage, though, with the centre-back confident that problems will be identified and rectified by manager Manuel Pellegrini.
"I think what happened against Madrid and Stuttgart rang one or two alarm bells and maybe showed we have to change something and be aware because we can't play the way we did in those two games against West Brom or we'll get punished," he told the club's official website.
"That's why they were valuable games for us but the fact is that it is better to find out in pre-season friendlies than in the Premier League because the results are not as important.
"It also gives us an idea of the areas we need to work on and improve. Everything is focused on our first game against West Brom and by Monday, we'll be ready and focused."
The 24-year-old struggled in his first season at the Etihad Stadium following a big-money move from Porto and insists that he is looking to get back on track in the 2015-16 campaign.
"I am focused on the season ahead and I want to play my part to the full," Mangala declared. "I know I need to improve and show my best game every time I play and that's what I intend to do."
source: goal
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