Tevez will not apologise to Manchester City manager Mancini
Last updated on .From the section Football
Carlos Tevez maintains he has nothing to apologise to Roberto Mancini about and believes his team-mates will support his version of events.
Manager Mancini said Tevez refused to come on against Bayern Munich and will not feature for Manchester City again.
The striker blamed "confusion on the bench", adding he was "ready to play".
Mancini chose not to comment on the matter on Friday but received strong backing from Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson.
Tevez believes the players who were alongside him on the bench on Tuesday will back his story, despite telling Sky Sports later that evening: "I didn't feel right to play, so I didn't."
James Milner, Aleksandar Kolarov, Edin Dzeko and Pablo Zabaleta were on the bench when the confrontation took place.
Tevez, 27, has been suspended for two weeks by the club pending an investigation into the incident, which happened in the second half of the 2-0 Champions League defeat by Bayern.
Mancini appeared at his usual Friday news conference, but beforehand journalists were warned not to ask questions about Tevez.
The Italian manager denied this had been the hardest week of his managerial career.
"No, no, absolutely no," he said. "Why is it difficult? Some situations can happen in football, in your job. It's important that the past is finished.
"I don't have any complications. Only one complication that we had two days ago is that we lost against Bayern Munich, only this. We started very well. We can do a fantastic season, I don't have this problem.
"It is normal that one player is not happy to leave the pitch in an important game or to stay on the bench, it's a normal situation for every manager."
Ferguson endorsed Mancini's handling of the affair at his Friday news conference.
"Roberto has shown his strength of character, his strength of management and that is important," said Ferguson.
"There is nobody more important than the manager at a football club."
Ferguson took Tevez to Old Trafford in 2007 and worked with him for two years before the forward's move to City.
During his time with the Premier League champions, he won two top-flight titles, the Champions League, the Fifa Club World Cup and the Carling Cup.
But his loan did not turn into a permanent move and he opted to join fierce rivals Manchester City.
Tevez signed amid much publicity but the relationship between player and club has since soured.
He spoke of his desire to leave England in July to be closer to his family, but since no agreement was reached with any other team, he has had to remain in Manchester and settle for a bit-part role in Mancini's plans.
Ferguson is no stranger to player conflicts and found himself in a similar position to Mancini in November 2001, when Paul Scholes refused to play after being selected in a weakened team for a League Cup defeat by Arsenal, a day after being dropped for a Premier League defeat by rivals Liverpool.
Ferguson commented: "We have all experienced our own difficulties in management and you cope with it as best as you can."
Tevez was widely criticised for his actions during his side's defeat in Munich, though he maintains that he did not refuse to play, insisting that his failure to take to the pitch was a "misunderstanding".
