Joleon Lescott reveals Roberto Mancini told Manchester City squad they would ‘not win a game without Yaya Toure’ before first Premier League triumph

City lost midfielder Toure midway through the season when he went to compete with Cote d’Ivoire at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

City lost Toure for more than a month, after the Ivorian had played all but 57 minutes of their opening 20 matches.

Toure bowed out with a goal in a 3-0 romp over Liverpool in early January and left City top of the league. They went on to beat Wigan and Tottenham in his absence, but then came unstuck with a 1-0 defeat at Everton, which caused manager Mancini to give the squad some choice words.

Lescott, who started alongside Vincent Kompany that January day at Goodison Park, told TNT Sports’ The Breakdown: “Yaya (Toure) had gone away for the Africa Cup of Nations and we lost at Everton.

Yaya Toure in action for Cote d’Ivoire in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations final against Zambia

Image credit: Getty Images

“He (Roberto Mancini) came in the dressing room and said, ‘You lot won’t win a game without Yaya Toure.’

“Whether he did it on purpose or not, we don’t know, because it was a brilliant thing he did. It erupted.

“The season we won the league, that is what he said in January or February. It was like, wow. He made the comment and then stepped away and was like, go on, deal with it.

“It was like, ‘okay, we’re going to show you’.”

City were without Toure for the maximum amount of time due to Cote d’Ivoire progressing all the way to the final – where they lost to Zambia on penalties – with Toure scoring and assisting in the quarter-final victory over Equatorial Guinea.

Buoyed by Mancini’s harsh words, City won their final two matches without Toure, a 3-0 win over Fulham and a 1-0 victory on the road at Aston Villa to ensure they remained top of the league upon Toure’s return.

Yaya Toure celebrates scoring in the 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Image credit: Getty Images

Toure slotted straight back into midfield and scored a vital late goal in their 1-1 draw away at Stoke, as well as both goals in the penultimate game of the season against fifth-placed Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Then, of course, came the famous 3-2 win over QPR, in which Sergio Aguero entered Premier League folklore with a winner in stoppage time, after Toure had assisted Pablo Zabaleta for their first goal, before going off injured shortly before half-time.

City had also navigated the tough spell without David Silva, and went on to win the title. Lescott is convinced Mancini’s comments got the City players’ backs up.

“We knew he thought it as well though. We were aware he thought it, but then you go and say it, it confirms it,” Lescott added. “We were like, nah, we’re not having that.

“So that is what I am saying, whether it was the right thing to do. Well, it worked, so it was the right thing, but I don’t know if that works today.”