Mancini ready to welcome back Tevez

19:37, 22 Feb 2012

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini tonight said he had "no problem" with Carlos Tevez and the striker could be considered for selection in "two or three weeks".

Tevez said in a statement released by City last night that he was "sincerely and unreservedly" sorry for his actions in taking an unauthorised three-month leave of absence from the club.

The Argentinian also withdrew his appeal against a fine of six weeks' wages.

Tevez has not played for City since he was accused of refusing to warm up during the Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich on September 27.

Mancini, at the time, said Tevez was "finished" at the club as a result and the dispute escalated when the player then flew to Argentina without permission on November 7.

However, after tonight's 4-0 defeat of Porto booked City's place in the last 16 of the Europa League, Mancini said Tevez would be available once he deems him match fit.

The Italian told ESPN: "One week after Munich I called him to my house and said, 'Carlos, apologise to everyone and it's finished'.

"I have no problem. I think he needs two to three weeks to train, then some games."

On tonight's contest, Mancini continued: ''We played a good game. Maybe 4-0 was too much but it was important we went into the second stage.

"Porto had lots of possession and it's not easy to play against them."

The Italian was pleased to see David Pizarro come on and score his first goal for the club.

Mancini continued: "I know him very well, he was with me at Inter. He came on for 20 minutes, played very well and scored a goal. His experience can be very important for us."

On their future prospects in the competition, Mancini added: "We want to get to the final.

"It will be difficult but for this reason I will play the best team, although we can make some changes every game."

City captain Vincent Kompany believes he and his team-mates showed they can win the competition.

A first-minute goal from Sergio Aguero set City on their way to seal a 6-1 aggregate triumph, with late strikes from Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Pizarro inflicting further damage at the Etihad .

Kompany added on ESPN: "It was a great victory. I think today showed how serious we are about this competition.

"Four-nil is a great result against the holders of the competition from last season.

"I didn't think we were at our best but we did exactly what we needed to

Aguero's early goal effectively killed off the tie, another valuable strike from the Argentinian who joined City last summer.

"And this is his first season (at City) as well," Kompany said.

"He is doing so many great things for the team."

Pointing out the threat City possess, and the abundance of scoring opportunities they had tonight, Kompany added: "It just shows we always create chances. The strikers have a lot of fun up front.

"It's good the end of the season is approaching, I don't think our team has ever been stronger."

Midfield general Yaya Toure said: "I think the game today was fantastic.

"To score early was very important for us."

Defeat with the Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup final was a jolt for Toure, and has increased his hunger for a trophy with City.

"It's very important for me," he said. "We lost that final against a good team."

Toure added: "It's very important for us to win something this year."