Nedum Onuoha determined to keep fighting for Manchester City place despite pre-season snub

Premier League,Nedum Onuoha,Manchester City(Getty Images)

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Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha admits he is disappointed with the club’s treatment of him but says he is determined to keep fighting for his place.

The 24-year-old, who was on loan at Sunderland last season, was told he would not be joining City’s tour of North America earlier this month and would stay at home along with the likes of Wayne Bridge and Emmanuel Adebayor.

But Onuoha, who still has three years left on his contract, told The Manchester Evening News: “I’d love to stay and fight, and until someone tells me to jog on then I’ll keep trying.

“To be honest, we’re just being professional at the moment.

“There’s a lot of disappointment about what happened and how it happened.”

The omitted players were only told of their exclusion from the tour by e-mail, but Onuoha is trying not to let the rejection get to him.

“You could say that people make mistakes and the situation could have been dealt with a bit differently,” he added.

“But as far as the players are concerned, none of us are down in the dumps.

“We’re just determined that we’re going to give everything we can.

“At the end of the day, we might not be on tour but we’ve not been shown the door so we’ve got to keep going.”

The versatile defender, who scored a spectacular goal against Chelsea while on loan at the Stadium of Light, says there is simply nothing else to do but carry on.

“We’re still being paid by Manchester City,” Onuoha continued.

“We’re in pre-season so it’s always going to be hard.

“But in any games you have, you should always try your best because you have to be ready for a big season.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m going to keep going through pre-season.

“Nothing’s changed on my side and it’s the same with a few of the others too.

“I don’t have a locker, I don’t have a squad number now, but other than that, it’s same as.

“It’s a case of coming in during the week, training hard and getting ready for any games that we have.

“I think the first team are back in just over a week’s time so things might be different then.”

Without a squad number or a place in the tour, Onuoha faces a fight to earn his place in Roberto Mancini’s 25-man Premier League squad.