Joleon Lescott has admitted he will look to leave Manchester City if he cannot earn more regular playing time as he believes he will soon lose his England place.The
£24million signing from Everton has been behind both Vincent Kompany and Kolo Toure in the City pecking order, and has often been deployed as a left-back when he has played.
With Mancini even preferring Belgian teenager Dedryck Boyata on occasion, Lescott admitted he is considering his future.
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I'm not happy with the situation. I don't enjoy sitting on the bench, and sometimes not even making the bench," he said.Lescott said he would be open to a loan if his salary and transfer fee ruled out a permanent move.
"That's down to myself and the club," Lescott said. "The club might say 'If there's a chance to play, go and play' and, if not, I will have to stay here."
However, Lescott insisted he never regrets joining City.
"The squad's big and there is a lot of quality here so I knew it wasn't going to be a foregone conclusion that I was going to start every game," he said.
"You have to respect the manager's decision and it's warranted because Kolo and Vincent have been outstanding so far this season, but when I've gone in I think I have done okay.
"I've never regretted my decision to come here. Mark Hughes was in charge at the time and I was playing every game but, even now, I still don't regret it.
"It's unfortunate that I'm not playing as much as I'd like, but you just have to get on with it sometimes. I'm a professional and level-headed person. I know situations come and go.
"Next week there might be an injury and I could be backin the team for the rest of the season. I just have to be ready for that, in case it happens."
Lescott has retained his England place to date, but believes that might soon change if he does not get in the City team.
"Fabio [Capello] has kept his confidence in me when other players have gone down with injury [Lescott has started the last three matches] and I'm grateful for that but there's going to come a time when, if I'm not playing for City, I'm not going to be in the England squad as well," he said.
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