Iheanacho: City will bounce back from Saints defeat

 

Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho is confident Manchester City's defeat against Southampton on Sunday will not derail their Champions League final hopes.

City travelled to St Mary's Stadium having drawn their semi-final first leg 0-0 with Real Madrid in midweek, but they failed to build any momentum as Southampton ran out 4-2 winners.

Sadio Mane struck a hat-trick in the victory - which gives Manchester United and West Ham a glimmer of hope in the fight for a top-four finish - to leave City licking their wounds ahead of the trip to Madrid.

But Iheanacho, who scored both City goals, believes the mental strength within Manuel Pellegrini's squad will see them bounce back at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

"Many things went wrong in our team," the young striker said. "We lost so many balls and didn't defend well.  I think we're going to come stronger in the next game.  This game didn't give us enough encouragement. But we will put it behind us and focus on the Real Madrid game."

Kelechi Iheanacho has scored 7 goals from just 9 shots on target in the Premier League this season