Pablo Zabaleta says the high-flying Blues must kick on again as the New Year approaches.

City take on an improving Crystal Palace this afternoon and the Argentina international believes the team have plenty more in their locker as the second half of the campaign begins.

“We need to push even more, now,” he said. “We know that December and January are key months for  the big teams to make a difference because we play many games and you need to try to keep winning.

“We are doing well, we are one point off the leaders and that’s why Crystal Palace is another key game for us.

“Whoever we play, we always play to win, it doesn’t matter who we have up front and this is very important for the team.

 

We feel good and we always want to show to the other teams that at the Etihad we are a very strong side and we want to make it as difficult as possible for visiting teams to play here

 

...Zaba...

 

“We need to keep working hard and keep focused on what we are doing. It doesn’t matter if we play home or away we need to try and play with the same intensity and I think when we play to our best form we can beat anybody.

“We are in a good position and are one point behind the leaders. There is still a long way to go so we cannot relax and we need to keep working hard. We know that we need to play against the best teams in the second half of the season away from home so it will be very tough.”

Zabaleta in action PA-16609219

Whether Pablo takes part today so soon after the 2-1 win over Liverpool following a remarkable return from injury, is another matter – though it’s more a case of whether anyone can stop him!

“We had no other right-backs in the team because Micah Richards is still injured so I was a bit nervous before the game because it was a huge risk, but by the end, I hadn’t felt anything.

“Normally a small grade 1 tear takes two weeks at least to recover but I played after just eight days so it was a hard decision for the manager and for me. As a player you want to play always, especially when you play against the big teams so the gamble paid off.” 

And his thoughts on the fans’ new song?  

“It’s amazing, it’s brilliant - thanks to the fans because I really like the song. I’ll be listening out for it again today!”