Former Manchester City striker Rodney Marsh believes that Mario Balotelli and Roberto Mancini were bound to clash because of their personalities.

The duo had a heated exchange at City's Carrington training ground on Thursday, as images showed Mancini tugging at the 22-year-old's training bib.

"Balotelli is a maverick, a fantastic footballer, and you know at some stage he will let you down," Marsh told BBC Sport. "Roberto Mancini is also very flamboyant and volatile. Those two are incendiary.

"I think Balotelli is one of the most unpredictable footballers in the history of football. But my feeling is, incredible as it sounds, that Balotelli will start against Watford in the FA Cup on Saturday and probably score a couple of goals.

"Of course they could patch it up. Equally he could be chucked out of the door tomorrow and be back at an Italian club."

City have not made any comment on the incident.