Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that he will rest some of his key players for Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie away to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Pellegrini reiterated that there are too many games over the Christmas period and the changes he will make are down to the number of fixtures the club have played since Boxing Day.

"We are going to make changes, because we are playing too often in the last weeks," he told the club's official website. "We are going to try to have a good squad and try to win our first FA Cup game, because for our team it is an important competition.

"I repeat from the beginning of the season, we are going to play in every competition with exactly the same importance. It will be a difficult game. If we think that because we are in Premier League and they are in the Championship that we are going to win, I think it's an important mistake."

City have won five straight games in the Premier League.