Manchester City's Yaya Toure and Gael Clichy take on Christmas jumper race to help raise money for club charity

Manchester City stars Yaya Toure and Gael Clichy warmed up for their dreaded winter's afternoon at Stoke on Saturday with a nail-biting Christmas jumper race.

The French-speaking pair battled it out to see who could climb inside 10 City Christmas jumpers and then put on a hat the fastest to advertise the club's range of festive knits.

It was neck and neck going into the final collar, but a slip from Toure saw Clichy sneak the contest by a nose.

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A hot and heavy Yaya Toure (left) and Gael Clichy (right) embrace after their nail biting jumper race

The City duo didn't know what they were getting into as they prepared to take on the jumper challenge

Toure and Clichy get started on the first of many layers, as they race against each other at the training ground

The players begin to get bigger and bigger as they layer up and lose their mobility

By the end of the contest the City duo looked more suited to American football than the English game.

The pair apparently weren't as impressive as aptly named city winger Jesus Navas, who quite rightly excelled in the festive contest last season, managing eight jumpers in less than a minute.

However, in the video of his attempt Clichy seems to think Navas has an unfair advantage, describing his Spanish team-mate as 'the same size as my daughter'.

The players were helping promote the festive jumpers as part of a charity initiative which sees £5 given to the club's Citizen Giving charity, which helps young people through football, for each jumper bought.

Toure, Clichy and the rest of the City side will travel to Stoke on Saturday in an attempt to retain their position at the top of the Premier League table.

Toure stumbled as he was putting on his final layer, leaving the door open for Clichy to clinch the battle

Both players looked like they'd eaten too much Christmas dinner by the end of the contest