Soccer:Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini blamed himself for his side's potentially damaging defeat at Everton last night. The Italian conceded he had been complacent having watched his side's three-point lead at the top of the Premier League get wiped out following a 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

Former Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson, whose old club now trail the leaders only on goal difference, scored the only goal of the game on the hour. Mancini said: “I didn’t prepare well for this game. I thought it was maybe easier. I know here it is never easy, never.

“I acknowledge my mistake. It is important for me to know this because, like this, I can’t do the same mistakes in the next game.”

When asked to elaborate on his mistakes in his post-match press conference, Mancini referred to the team’s training in recent days. He said: “The players put everything on the pitch but I made some mistakes during the last three days preparing for this game.

“I didn’t prepare very well. For this reason we lost this game but I also feel we didn’t deserve it because they had two chances to score and we were so unlucky in the same situation.”

Meanwhile, the transfer window slammed shut on City's hopes of selling outcast Carlos Tevez this season, leaving them with a gifted striker who has probably burned too many bridges to be of any use to their title push.

Should Tevez return from self-imposed exile in Argentina and join his team mates for training, City face the prospect of having to resume paying high wages for a player who Mancini has said has no future at the club.

The league leaders had stopped his salary since he left for his homeland without their permission in November and imposed a fine of six weeks' pay on him for gross misconduct – a punishment he is appealing to the Premier League over. Legal experts say City could probably find a way to terminate his contract if he continued to not turn up for work but the club would then lose out on a transfer fee as the player would be a free agent.

The high-risk option would be to release him and sue him for the loss of a transfer fee but there would be no guarantees for City that Tevez would be able to pay it

Mancini has been visibly tired of fielding Tevez-related questions and while the matter does not appear to have affected their form, the team could do without the distractions as the title race hots up.