On the day City confirmed annual losses of £97.9million, and again privately repeated they had no intention of strengthening their squad next month even if they fall further behind Manchester United, Mancini outlined why they might have to.
The Blues chief confirmed he had virtually given up hope of persuading Yaya Toure to remain in England instead of heading to the African Nations Cup with the Ivory Coast.
Even Mancini's belief that Toure will remain until after City's FA Cup tie with Watford on January 5 seems a bit optimistic if past experiences are anything to go by.
Brother Kolo is also expected to be part of the Ivory Coast squad, whilst Mancini also anticipates young midfielder Abdul Razak will be called away by coach Sabri Lamouchi for the tournament in South Africa, which begins on January 19.
But the news gets even worse.
Mancini has also revealed Jack Rodwell has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring problems that have restricted him to just six appearances since his summer move from Everton and have already kept him out for over two months.
"I don't know," said Mancini, when asked whether he needed to strengthen his squad.
"We will have to see what happens when the players are all recovered.
"I am worried because for us because Yaya is really important and to lose him for all that time in January will be really difficult.
"But we do not just lose him. We lose his brother. Probably Abdul as well.
"Also, Jack has hurt his hamstring again. We need to work harder with him because he is a good player and a good man. He deserves to play without a problem."
Mancini confirmed he was considering whether to send Rodwell to a specialist to see if City can discover any underlying problem for a player the Italian was convinced could have a major impact this season.
If that was bad enough, there have also been reports of dressing room unrest, specifically rows with both Joe Hart and Mario Balotelli immediately after the United defeat.
In both instances, it is easy to see why Mancini might have a problem.
He called for a four-man wall at the fateful free-kick from which Robin van Persie scored the winner, only for Hart to overrule him to get Carlos Tevez to mark Wayne Rooney.
And if Mancini's public condemnation of Balotelli's inept display was repeated behind closed doors, the fiery Italian is unlikely to have been too impressed.
"It is usual for me to talk to the players," said Mancini.
"Also some times you can have a discussion.
"But I prefer to keep it in the dressing room, not like some other people who talk outside.
"For me it is not like this. We know where these stories comes from."
With skipper Vincent Kompany sidelined for Saturday's trip to Newcastle by a hamstring strain and Gareth Barry suspended, it merely adds to the sense of chaos after Sunday's defeat, which left them six points adrift in the title race.
Yet the defeat left Mancini more convinced than ever that City are actually the better of the two Manchester teams.
"We showed we are better," he said.
"For 20 minutes they did not touch the ball. They had two chances and we made mistakes for the first two goals.
"Afterwards, in the second-half, they played with all their players in their own half.
"I don't say they were lucky because United are a strong team. But it is not like it was three years ago when they were better.
"Now they are not better than us. But they know they had to defend well for all the second half."
Mancini is certainly not buying the argument that his team are inferior to the one which swept all before them in the first half of last season.
Not even a disastrous Champions League campaign, when his side picked up only three points from their six games, the worst return of any English club in the competition's history, can change that assessment.
"We have had a good season in the Premier League so far," he said.
"We are only six points behind United."
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