MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini believes the three-match suspension Diego Costa incurred for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can should prompt the Chelsea striker to change his ways.
The Premier League's top scorer is banned for the potential title-decider against Manchester City on Saturday after the FA took retrospective action against the Spain international for a challenge in Tuesday's Capital One Cup semifinal.
And City manager Pellegrini, who admires Costa as a footballer, thinks the 17-goal forward is a difficult character but urged him to learn the lessons and improve his behaviour to make sure there is no repeat.
He said in a news conference: "He is a great player, a very important player. He has his character, it is not an easy character but I hope for him, that this punishment will be a good thing for him to change in the future because he doesn't need to do it in that way because he is a top player."
League leaders Chelsea will be without Costa while City will miss their vice-captain Yaya Toure, who is captaining Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup.
But Pellegrini feels neither side should use that as an excuse, adding: "Diego Costa is an important player for Chelsea. But I say always that big teams with important squads cannot depend on just one player. So I think it is a very important miss for both teams but they have other players to replace them."
City have not won a league game without Toure in the team since April but, although there was the possibility Ivory Coast could have been eliminated on Wednesday, Pellegrini insisted he would not have selected the midfielder anyway.
He added: "I decided if he was eliminated from the African Cup that he was not to come and play here two days after because I do not think it is the correct way to do it. We played without Yaya in Rome and qualified and against Bayern Munich in Champions League [and won]."
Pellegrini believes defeat at Stamford Bridge will not end City's title hopes, explaining: "It is not the game that will decide the title because after that we have to play [for] 45 points more. If you remember some years ago [in 2011-12], this club won the title after being eight points behind Manchester United so in football you never know."
City have lost their last two games, failing to score, but Pellegrini said he did not feel under any greater pressure, saying: "I don't feel pressure, never."
Pellegrini also defended his team, arguing they have shown their mettle over the last few seasons, saying: "This team is always showing they have the pedigree they deserve. It is not easy to win two of the last three Premier Leagues and be runner-up in the other year."