West Brom-Manchester City Preview

(AP) -- LONDON (SE) - Manchester City must beat West Bromwich Albion at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to keep their faint Premier League title hopes alive.

Second-placed City lost 1-0 at Arsenal on Sunday to leave Manchester United eight points clear at the top of the table with just six matches to play.

City manager Roberto Mancini's misery was compounded when controversial Italian striker Mario Balotelli was sent off in the last minute after being shown a second yellow card for fouling Bacary Sagna.

Mancini's side have the best home record in the Premier League, with 15 wins, one draw and no defeats, but their away that has let them down. The defeat at Arsenal was their fifth loss on the road this term and overall they have picked up 25 points from a possible 48 away from the Etihad.

"We have played well for the majority of the season, but have come unstuck for whatever reason over the past few weeks, most of the time away from home," said City midfielder James Milner. "We have been very strong at home, but away have not got the results we want.

"It is about having that ruthlessness on the road which we can learn from.

"Everyone has good days and bad days." added Milner. "We did not keep the ball as well as we can.

"We were still in the game going into the final 10 minutes, which is what the good teams do.

"When you are under pressure, it is about staying tight, restricting their chances and hoping you can nick one at the other end, but that just did not happen.

"As a team, we have set standards throughout the season, but we have not met them.

"We knew it would be a tough game, but we did not perform how we know we can for whatever reason, loss of confidence, fatigue. We have given everything we can, and it was not good enough.

"But we have another game in a couple of days and have to pick ourselves up and go again."

West Brom won for the first time in five matches on Saturday when they beat relegation-threatened Blackburn 3-0 at The Hawthorns.

Martin Olsson gave the Baggies an early lead when he turned the ball into his own net before second-half goals from Liam Ridgewell and Marc- Antoine Fortune secured all three points for Albion.

West Brom are 13th in the table, 11 points above the drop zone with just six matches to play.

"Three-nil makes it seem more comfortable than it actually was," said West Brom manager Roy Hodgson after Saturday's victory. "All credit to Blackburn. I thought they did well and will feel aggrieved not to get something from the game.

"We needed some good defensive work and a fantastic save which would have put them on level terms.

"I think we can relax now in terms of being safe (from relegation) but I hope we don't relax.

"I hope we keep working and fighting really hard to see how high we can finish in the table.

"We've got games against sides who have a lot to play for like Manchester City, QPR, Arsenal etc."

West Brom and City played out a goalless draw in this season's reverse league fixture at The Hawthorns on December 26.

Updated April 9, 2012