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.

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.”

City face Blackburn today while United host Norwich. In the early kick-off Liverpool travel to neighbours Everton but influential captain Steven Gerrard is unlikely to start.

The midfielder said: “I think it’s the best week of the season. These are the two favourite games for me with Manchester United a close second.

“Because of the Merseyside rivalry and the buzz you get from beating them, it’s probably my favourite game, so I’m looking forward to it. We’ll just have to wait and see what Kenny decides to do with the team and whether I’m going to be in from the start or on the bench, but whatever he decides I’ll be ready.”

Villa play Wigan, Sunderland face West Brom and Wolverhampton host Newcastle in the remaining fixtures.

On Sunday Tottenham and Arsenal go head to head in the North London derby while Chelsean travel to Bolton. Fulham host QPR and Stoke  travel to Swansea.