The Dutch international, who is at the stage where he could almost create a cellar for all the man of the match champagne he has collected recently, was in determined mood in the wake of the 1-0 win at Blackburn.
A study of the Premier League table and the inevitable question about a possible finishing position brought the following response:
“You have to aim as high as you can and all we can do is focus on each game and keep collecting three points.
“We are in the top four and that is where we want to stay and the way to do that is to not think about the future only the next match.
“There was a lot of hard work that went into the win at Ewood Park not just from me.
This is a collective effort. Last weekend was a good one for Manchester City and now our job as a team is to make sure that next weekend is a good one too
...Nigel de Jong
“If we keep our focus then of course we can challenge for third place but all we can do is keep winning and see what happens.”
De Jong expressed his joy for Edin Dzeko whose first English top flight goal secured the spoils on Monday night and the Bosnian reciprocated.
“Nigel seems to be man of the match every other game,” he smiled before expressing his relief to have got off the mark.
“I am most happy that the goal helped us win an important game,” he said. “I am not the first player who has struggled for goals after moving from a different league in the middle of the season.
“This is football but I know that it will be better in the future and we are in a good position as a team which is the most important thing. I would like to thank the City supporters for backing me so well.”
