Lescott: I'll keep my place despite all City's new signings
Published 23:00 27/07/10 By David McDonnell in Houston
Joleon Lescott has admitted he owes Manchester City after failing to live up to his £24million transfer fee last season.
Lescott endured a tough first season at City following his move from Everton, poor form and injuries culminating in a miserable campaign which ended with the defender missing out on the World Cup.
But Lescott has vowed to make amends next season and said he does not fear for his place, despite being one of the players considered vulnerable as Roberto Mancini gets tough with his squad.
"It was a long summer and very hard for me because I had ambitions to go to the World Cup," said Lescott. "But injuries meant I couldn't go. That was hard to take but I'm trying to get back into it now and working hard.
"Last season was frustrating. I worked so hard to get the move and I feel I didn't repay the club as much as I would have liked. Obviously the injuries didn't help, but I'm fit now and I believe I can repay the club if I'm given the opportunities.
"I started training towards the end of last season and have kept that going all summer to get stronger. I watched a few of of the World Cup games while spending time with my family and friends but the main focus for me was to get fit.
"Having to watch it on television didn't make the situation any more difficult. I took it that I was injured and that was the main reason I didn't go to the World Cup."
Asked if the arrival of new defenders like Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov at City was unsettling, Lescott said: "Not really. I expected there to be changes, even if we'd got fourth place last season. None of us are distracted by that, because we know we're all going to have to fight for our positions at this club.
"Everyone wants to play in the best teams and work with the best players, and City are no different. They want to achieve great things and to do that they've got to buy top players.
"I don't think any player needs to go to the manager for reassurance, but if you believe you're training well enough and playing well, but are not then given the opportunities to play, that's when you'll speak to him.
"At this moment we've only played a few pre-season friendlies, we're still training and a lot of players aren't back yet, so it's difficult for the manager because he can't shape the team or the squad as he would like.
"The target last season was to get into the Champions League and we didn't do that, which was disappointing. This season the aim is the same. The goal is to get into the Champions League and if we finish higher than fourth, that would be great."
