The Blues bounced back from three straight defeats after looking each other in the eye and telling team-mates that this time, the three points belonged to them, said the Dutch midfield anchorman.
De Jong said: “Of course we’ve talked about it as a group. Everybody is fit now, we are all together as a squad and we are at our strongest. We speak to each other and say: OK, this is it. We have to get some points.
“Last week’s three defeats, that’s not the standard of Manchester City. We are fighting for something. Everybody in that team at West Brom was confident about the game and really hungry to win.
“The attitude we showed, we have to have that every game - not go somewhere like West Brom and think we might get some points. We have to go to a place like that and say: We will get these points today, they are ours.”
Mario Balotelli fired the crucial goals before being sent off, leaving City’s ten men to make sure of the victory on a weekend when top-four rivals Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all tasted defeat.
Nigel added: “Everyone was aware we’d had a couple of difficult weeks. We’ve not been having the best results but we’re still a strong side, and that was a good result that will give us a lot of confidence.
Overall it was one of our best performances of the season
“We defended very well and up front we looked very strong, especially in the first half. So credit the whole team, it’s a good platform for the next game.
“The spotlight is on Manchester City this season - five years ago, not many people were talking about City but that’s how it is nowadays. Things can always get a little exaggerated. We just have to be stronger.
“We have to work hard every day and keep performing like we did at West Brom. A lot of people are talking about us, but the most important thing is that the players and the staff know what is really going on.”
