The title is Chelsea's concedes impressed Mancini

After spending more than 100m on new players this summer, it was felt Manchester City would be able to provide some sort of challenge for the championship, even if they eventually fell short.

Yet, after seeing his team fall seven points adrift of Carlo Ancelotti's men, and then have his squad decimated by injury, Mancini has apparently thrown in the towel, not just for his own club, but the rest of the league as well.

"Chelsea are probably going to win the Premier League title easily," he said. "They are the best team in the Premier League at the moment.

"They are a strong team, who have been playing together for many years, with a fantastic manager.

"They have worked to reach this situation."

It is quite possible Mancini did not quite mean his words to come out the way he did.

Nevertheless, it is quite baffling just five matches in to the season and on the eve of Chelsea's visit to Eastlands today to defend their 100 per cent start.

Yet it seems Mancini does feel City are years behind Chelsea at present, even if they are making ground up fast.

"We must work hard to be their equals," he said. "We can be a strong club in one or two years. But we must improve, month after month, year after year."

The City faithful might not be impressed by such talk. In midweek the Blues crashed out of the Carling Cup, a competition that many felt was the easiest way of ending a trophy drought that dates back to 1976.

"With the problems at this moment we couldn't play in four competitions," said Mancini.

Given the squad building they have undergone in the last couple of years, few will shed any tears at Mancini's complaints at being short of so many players.

Yet when he was assiduously piecing together his squad this summer, he did so on the basis he was buying for the future, as well as the present, believing the day would come when City could hold their heads up alongside Chelsea as one of the

Premier League's top dogs.

"We have got strong players but we have also got young players," he said.

"We have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League.

"David Silva and Yaya Toure played in the Champions League for many years, Mario Balotelli won it with Inter, Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng are international players.

"We have bought strong players. When they play together we can change everything."

Kolarov and Balotelli are out with long-term injuries after playing just one match. Boateng has not even managed that yet after aggravating a knee injury in a collision with an in-flight trolley. He has finally managed to get a full week's training under his belt but is badly lacking match practice.

Yet such is Mancini's desperate need for defenders, down to just three fit ones at the last count, he is among the options to fill the left-back role, along with the equally rusty Joleon Lescott, youngster Dedryck Boyata, James Milner and Gareth Barry.

Emmanuel Adebayor should be fit enough to make the bench after a recent spell on the sidelines with a dead leg.

However, with Shaun Wright-Phillips joining Kolarov and Balotelli on the sidelines with a knee injury, Mancini cannot believe his squad has so rapidly been torn apart.

"I am disappointed we have all these injuries at the moment," he said. "I only have 11 players who are 100 per cent fit."

City did the double over Chelsea last season winning 4-2 at Stamford Bridge and 2-1 at Eastlands but Ancelotti insists now is the time to judge his team.

"That was the past," added Ancelotti. "I think it was a difficult moment for us when we lost at home but now it's a different story. If you want to judge my team we have more confidence compared to last year, we are in a good moment. I think we can do better compared to last time."

Ancelotti disagreed with Mancini's suggestion that Chelsea's title defence is guaranteed. "City have a possibility to win the title. They didn't start so well this Premier League but they have a possibility. They have time to come back to first place in the table," he said.

"Carlos Tevez is the most dangerous player of Man City. He has quality, he has power, he has a very good mentality. I appreciate his kind of play and we need to pay attention."

Chelsea crashed out of the Carling Cup in midweek 4-3 to Newcastle but the team was filled with young talent.