Pearce applauds Laurel & Hardy

The strike partnership forming between Darius Vassell and Andy Cole reminds Man City boss Stuart Pearce of Laurel & Hardy.

After watching his star strikers score all three goals (Vassell, 2) in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa last night the former England full back told Sky Sports: “They are a Laurel and Hardy partnership, they were made for each other,

"If you look at them individually, Darius gives us pace up front, which we were lacking last season, and Cole is clever in the hole."

But although Pearce was happy with his side's performance, he still feels that there is room for improvement.

He added: "It was a good result for us, the first half we dominated the game,

"In the second half it disappointed me that we didn't keep it for 90 minutes and dominate the game.

"We let Villa back into the game which disappointed me.

"I do understand that that happens in The Premier League at this standard, teams do get back into the game but we gave the ball away too cheaply but credit to the players, fantastic, well done, but we can get better.

"When we have that interchange of playing one and two touch we do look a good side but I think we maybe need to string that together for maybe 90 minutes and kill teams off a touch better than maybe we are at the moment.

"But I can't fault their effort, I cant fault anything about them, and there is a great spirit in the camp and they're all looking at each other and trying to drive each other on.

"If we can string 90 minutes together of some of the football we played in patches we will win more than we will lose."