The most expensive squad in English football welcomed another addition earlier this week when giant striker Edin Dzeko checked in after completing his £27million move from Wolfsburg.

With so much quality at his disposal, Mancini appears best placed to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson for the championship this season, and create what promises to be a thrilling all-Mancunian duel.

However, the visit of Wolves to Eastlands on Saturday is a reminder of the obstacles that lie in City's path.

Even though they went in front at Molineux earlier this season, Mick McCarthy's men rallied to snatch all three points. It was the kind of setback Mancini acknowledges could prove very costly in the final analysis, and one which the Blues must learn to avoid.

"If you beat all these teams; the ones like Wolves, Blackpool and Aston Villa and draw against those like Chelsea and United, you win the title.

"But it is not easy.

"The problem comes when you meet a team that, in your head, you think are easy.

"Against Arsenal, United or Chelsea, you don't need to remind yourself to concentrate. You are there a week before.

"But if you think a game is going to be easy, that is when you lose. It happens here and in Italy. In 2011, there is no such thing as an easy game."

There are countless examples to prove Mancini's theory. Sometimes games turn out to be easy, but only when attitudes are spot-on. Any deficiency can be exposed.

"Why did Chelsea lose against Wolves recently? Because Wolves ran for 95 minutes and fought for every ball. For them it was the game of the year. It is something we must understand." the Italian continued.

"Maybe against Leicester on Sunday, we thought it was easy.

"Yesterday, Arsenal lost against Ipswich. In the FA Cup, Newcastle lost against Stevenage, Derby lost against Crawley.

"These results do not happen in Italy. Here, every game is very strange. If you don't play at 200%, you are at risk."

The added incentive for City to avenge that October loss to Wolves is the knowledge that they can clamber back to the top of the table for a longer period than the five hours they were there for over Christmas.

Although the gap would be a single point and Mancini's side would have played three extra games, with United's unbeaten record getting a severe test at Tottenham 24 hours later, the Blues could find themselves top for a week at least.

Not that Mancini is paying any attention.

"We should not think about it," he said. "We should only think about our games.

"The season is very long and we have another 17 matches to play.

"The table could change every three days, so we must focus only on Wolverhampton, nothing else."

Dzeko may yet be forced to make his debut from the bench.

However, the Bosnian's arrival is set to release Roque Santa Cruz from his personal torment, and probably Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has been eased out of the first-team picture since Mancini's arrival.

"If an opportunity for either of them to play came up, then it would be better for them," said Mancini.

"Probably Roque will go to Blackburn in one or two days and Shaun has two or three options."

But the situation with Emmanuel Adebayor is not quite so clear-cut.

With Mancini restating his belief that it will be a couple of weeks at the earliest before he knows whether Mario Balotelli will need an operation on his knee injury, the Togo forward's future remains on hold.

A number of different clubs, both at home and abroad, have expressed their interest in the former Arsenal man.

But Mancini is wary of leaving himself short of options.

"A lot of teams want Emmanuel but at the moment we have to wait for Mario Balotelli," confirmed the City chief.

"Maybe Manu will leave but we have another 20 days, so we have time to make a decision.

"If we lose three or four, we might end up in a situation where we don't have enough players for the remainder of the season."