Pearce tells Beasley to earn City move

Stuart Pearce has given injury-plagued DaMarcus Beasley five games to prove he is worth a long-term contract at Manchester City.

Beasley has made just 18 appearances since arriving on a season-long loan from PSV Eindhoven and Pearce has yet to decide whether to sign the 23-year-old on a permanent basis.

The City boss said: "I will probably decide on DaMarcus in the last week of the season - I would have liked him to have played more games."

Pearce added: "There is a lot of football to be played between now and the summer. If he features in every game we play, and if he starts every game, he will have done extremely well.

"There is a buy-out clause in DaMarcus' contract, so now the ball is firmly in his court."