Boss Manuel Pellegrini is ready to start with a full strength Manchester City side in Saturday's FA Cup clash against Middlesbrough.
The Citizens host Aitor Karanka's team only days before the do-or-die clash at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea but the Chilean says seven days are enough for his players to recover for next week's Premier League game.
"Middlesbrough may not be a Premier League team but they are fighting to win promotion," Pellegrini said.
"This will be a very difficult match and we need to be at our best to win.
"They are well organised and don't concede many goals so unless we play with 100% intensity and concentration we will find it difficult to progress into the next round of the FA Cup.
"We are not in the Capital One Cup anymore and we want to do well in this competition because it was disappointing to lose in the quarter-final last season.
"Of course there are always opportunities for players to impress and stake a claim for a place but we are playing on Saturday and not in midweek and we will have a full week to recover before we play Chelsea so with that in mind, I will try and put out the strongest team I can."
