Pablo Zabaleta insisted team-mate Sergio Aguero is strong enough to deal with the loss of his place in Manchester City's starting XI.
Aguero has found himself out of Pep Guardiola's line-up, with the City boss opting for Gabriel Jesus for the past three successive games.
After being left on the bench for City's 2-1 Premier League win over Swansea City on Sunday, Aguero - who has scored 11 league goals this season - failed to guarantee his future at the Etihad Stadium.
However, fellow Argentina international Zabaleta is not concerned, saying: "He will be okay, he's a mature guy.
"Listen, years ago it was [Carlos] Tevez, [Mario] Balotelli, [Edin] Dzeko and Kun [Aguero].
"It's not the first time he's been dropped. We need a strong squad to win titles."
"Of course, if the manger decides to play them both together, they could do that," added Zabaleta.
"But we play in a 4-3-3 with one central striker, two wingers wide. That's why probably at the moment one of them needs to play up front on his own."
