Nedum Onuoha believes Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has cost defender Joleon Lescott his England World Cup place.

Onuoha felt that Mancini had cost Lescott a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad by not involving him for the last fortnight of the season, as the player was recovering from a hamstring problem.

"I feel for Joleon and I think the way that he was handled towards the end of the season by the management in terms of injury has almost cost him a place," the City defender told the Manchester Evening News.

"The manager said he's going to be unavailable for the final two games and that just wasn't the case because at the time I think he was coming back in for training."