The England defender accepts that City are not even second favourites as things stand but is sure there will be more twists and turns to come.
He knows that United have yet to play Chelsea twice and Arsenal once and knows too that involvement in other competitions could still have a bearing for the leading five clubs who are all still in Europe. Four of them (Spurs are out) are also in the FA Cup.
“I wouldn’t like to write us off too soon,” said Richards who is eyeing maximum points from the next two matches at home to Fulham and Wigan.
“Obviously United are favourites but we are still improving and have a good squad with depth to it. We have Nigel (de Jong) and Mario (Balotelli) to come back from injury soon so we are not despondent.
“We will pick the bones out of the derby defeat and move on. There is no time to sulk about it. We played some good stuff at Old Trafford and if we had been a bit more ruthless in front of goal we might have got something.
“Our main aim all season has been to qualify for the Champions League and that has not changed.”
After this week’s trip to Greece to play Aris in the Europa League, City could have five home games in succession as they prepare to find top form for the trip to Chelsea early in March.
“We are still fighting on three fronts and we must make sure we go for everything,” concluded Richards.
