City are the defending champions, having won the division in each of the last two seasons and Barry-Murphy believes we will threaten at the top end of the table again in 2022/23.
His confidence stems from what he seen from his young squad in pre-season and the opening three league games in which we have recorded two wins and a draw against Liverpool, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
Barry-Murphy says his players are completely focused on getting better and if they can retain that attitude they will give themselves the best chance of retaining the title.
“The players understand at this club there is an expectancy of them to play a certain way and improve every part of their game that links into what the club wants,” he told mancity.com.
“The players seem pretty obsessed with that improvement and if that’s the case then I am sure the calibre of player we have will allow us to win games and be competitive at the top of the league.
“One of the things we have at this club is a real winning mentality and the players have been used to winning so I wouldn’t want to take that away from them for one instance.
“We are very confident this season that we will do very well and challenge at the top of the table, but ultimately where we finish will be dictated by how well we improve and how consistent we are over the season in terms of our attitude, behaviours and what we do.”
The EDS return to action against Chelsea on Friday evening in a league clash that will be broadcast live on CITY+ and Recast.
The Blues, who sit ninth with three points, have fielded a number of players with first-team experience in their opening three games.
Ben Chilwell, Trevor Chalobah, Ethan Ampadu and summer signing Carney Chukwuemeka have all featured and, whilst it remains to be seen whether that will be the case at Kingsmeadow, Barry-Murphy is expecting the sort of tough test he feels is vital for his players’ development.
“I know there have been a lot of different line-ups from them, in terms of what type of players have played,” he added.
“I know the manager has used it for exposure for a lot of their first team players and established internationals, so, whether it is that or whether it is a combination of that and younger players like we do ourselves, I think it is an intriguing contest.
“We played there at the end of last season and it was probably an unfair result from their end because I thought Cieran Slicker was outstanding and had to make a lot of brilliant saves.
“The challenge was really tough, but these are the mini comparisons that we can make with our first team when they go and face these challenges at tough away grounds.
“We want our players to understand what that is like and no doubt Friday night will be a perfect example of that, so it is a really exciting game for us and one we can’t wait to compete in.”
City face Chelsea in the Premier League 2 at 19:00 on Friday 26 August and you can watch live on CITY+ and Recast.
A CITY+ subscription costs £2.99GBP per month and includes live streams of selected Women’s and Academy matches throughout the season, as well as full-match replays and exclusive City Studios originals.
Find out how to subscribe, here.
The official Man City Recast channel offers fans flexible, pay-per-view live fixtures and on demand viewing options including the full back catalogue of City Studios Originals, match action from across the years, legend interviews, Best of Series and Man City Esports.
