Manchester City star Mario Balotelli has lent his support to fireworks safety campaign Treacle.

The Italian striker was caught up in a controversial incident on the eve of the Manchester derby, when fireworks let off in the bathroom of his Cheshire home caused a blaze that needed to be attended to by firefighters.

"The thing at the weekend didn't come from me," Balotelli said of the incident.

"It came from one of my friends and one of my brother's friends. Maybe I should be more careful about who I let in my house."

Now Balotelli is warning others of the dangers of fireworks.

"It is an important message that children should not mess with fireworks. They can be very dangerous if they are not used in the right way," he warned.

"People should follow the firework code."

The £24m forward scored two goals in City's eventual 6-1 win at Old Trafford, but was booked for his celebration which revealed a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Why always me?'.

"I did it for many reasons but I'll leave it for other people to figure out what it means. I'm sure people can work it out," he said of the shirt.

"Chappy (Les Chapman), our kitman did it for me, I told him the words and he printed them. He is a good guy Chappy, one of the best.

"Will I do it again? No, because otherwise I'll get booked every week, so it was a one-off for United."

Manchester City currently enjoy a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.