hughes still at city!

Under-pressure Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has been told he will stay in charge to strengthen his squad in January despite his side's poor form.

Sunday's defeat at West Brom left City in the bottom three after one win in their last nine Premier League games.

Hughes said: "Am I confident I will be given the money myself to spend? That is the intention.

"That's my view and I've had assurances from (City's owner) Sheikh Mansour and the chairman, who are very positive."

Oil-rich Arab billionaires Sheikh Mansour and club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak are set to bankroll a January spending spree with the intention of lifting City out of trouble.

But there have been doubts over how much longer Hughes will remain in charge at Eastlands after his side's slump down the table, with Sunday's last-gasp defeat by bottom side West Brom their latest setback.

However, the former Wales and Blackburn manager added: "There has been speculation about my future since the new owners came in, so it is not something that is new to me.

"They have been very positive. They understand where we are in our development. They are pragmatic people.

"They understand things will not happen overnight. Some people expect it to but they understand that won't happen.

"Time is something we all need - myself included - but I know the quality of my staff and we will gain results in the future.

"At the moment we are hurting somewhat because we're in the bottom three of the Premier League which is not something we anticipated."

The loss at the Hawthorns was particularly hard for Hughes to take, given it was the second time in eight days they had lost out to an injury-time goal.

"We are disappointed to lose two league games in a row in such a way," explained Hughes. "Again, we have not seen the game out to its conclusion.

"We are switching off at key times and it is costing us matches.

"We had shown good character to get back on level terms after going behind so to lose it was very frustrating."

Hughes admits he needs to strengthen his squad and also knows he requires players who are used to the Premier League, and will not take time to settle in.

"We are working hard to adjust things and we will adjust them in the transfer window. We will bring in quality players to ensure that the club moves forwards in the future," he explained.

"There is no guarantee how many we will bring in but it is clear we do need help. We have to make sure we bring players in who will make an immediate impact."

West Brom boss Tony Mowbray hopes his side can build on their first win since 4 October and revealed he had tried to bring off match-winner Roman Bednar before his injury-time header.

Mowbray said: "It has been a difficult time for us because the players believe we have played well enough to compete in this league and give ourselves a real chance.

"It is important that supporters believe that as well and we all stick together. We could easily have had three points as well against Portsmouth and Blackburn and yet today things went for us a little bit.

"We are delighted for Luke Moore (who scored West Brom's first goal). We all know how difficult a time he has had and hopefully he can kick on from here.

"When we were 1-0 up, I was going to try to protect the lead by playing one up front and the intention was to take off Roman.

"But then Jonathan said he had double vision and was struggling to see so he had to come off instead.

"Maybe that twist of fate, with Roman scoring the winner in the 92nd minute, is what we need."

Well, i think he will stay, but after ajnuary, he will seriously need to improve, cos, he wont be shone murcy