London, Sep. 17 : Roberto Mancini has told his Manchester City players they must be more like neighbours Manchester United if they want to be champions.

Mancini revealed that his squad needed to adopt the same ruthless winning mentality as their neighbours and title rivals.

United have trumped City to reclaim top spot twice already this season. After City thumped Spurs 5-1 at White Hart Lane, United demolished Arsenal 8-2 at Old Trafford.

And after City went top again with a 3-0 win over Wigan, United stole their thunder with an emphatic 5-0 win away to Bolton to go top on goal difference.

Although City has made a flying start, Mancini warned there can be no let-up and cited rivals United as the team to model themselves on.

"United are a top team. They have been used to winning for a long time. When they played against Arsenal and scored two or three goals, they continued to try and

score more. We need to have that mentality," The Mirror quoted Mancini, as saying.

"We need to always play to win, but we also need to understand that we won't always win games just because we play well," he added.

Asked if he would be disappointed if City failed to win the title after their fine start, he said: "I don't know what will happen. But we want to improve on last season.

We were second, but for goal difference.

"This year we have a chance to improve on that and maybe win the title," he said. (ANI)