Pablo Zabaleta will reach a notable landmark for City if he plays against Stoke on Saturday.

A firm favourite with Blues’ fans, Zaba will make his 300th appearance for City if he plays any part in the game against the Potters – ironically against the manager who first brought him to the Club – Mark Hughes.

Now in his eighth season at the Etihad, only Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany have been with the Blues longer and the Argentina star admits he never thought he would go on to be one of City’s

“I never imagined I’d still be here eight years on,” smiled Pablo. “I joined City just a day before the Club was taken over by Sheikh Mansour and everything changed after that.

“Vincent Kompany had also just joined and not long after Robinho came so it was a crazy but exciting time. I’ve seen so many good times and been lucky to have been part of a lot of success at this Club, but you have no idea of how long your stay will be when you first arrive.

“I’m on 299 appearances now and if I do play against Stoke, it will be a very proud moment for me but it would mean nothing if we don’t win because we need as many points as we can get between now and the end of the season to qualify for next season’s Champions League.”

Pablo Zabaleta

Injury has restricted Pablo to just 21 appearances this season with the right-back missing the first half of the campaign with a knee injury.

He is hoping that he can end the campaign strongly and help the Blues achieve a top four finish as well as challenging Real Madrid for a place in the Champions League final over the next 10 days or so.He admits he has many happy memories of the games he played so for the Club, but a couple stick out more in his mind than most.“I’ve had many great moments with City that have come at different times, so it’s not easy to just pinpoint one – but that said, the game against QPR when we won the title was the special one,” he said.

“Even though we won the FA Cup – our first trophy for 35 years – to win the Premier League and do it the way we did was something special. I hope I can add more happy memories in the season’s to come but right now, all we’re thinking about is Stoke and getting three vital points.”