He also isn’t worried that Villa will be gunning for revenge having been soundly beaten 4-0 by the Blues just three weeks ago – in fact, he’s relishing the prospect!
“It’s good,” he said. “For me it isn’t a matter of who you play, but how you play. You have to beat everybody and so it doesn’t matter when you play the games or even if you play somebody back-to-back – the bottom line is we still have to get three points.”
While City’s hugely popular Dutchman admits he was surprised how comfortably City brushed aside Villa just after Christmas, he believes Gerard Houllier’s men will be a much tougher nut to crack this time around.
“You have to understand that it is not the same Villa squad as a few years ago,” he said. “They’ve lost a lot of experience and are struggling to score goals.
Obviously, Darren Bent will add to the threat they pose and they’re playing at home so it will be completely different from the last time we played them
...Nigel de Jong
“Bent is their record signing and so it’ll probably be a full house to watch him play his first game. For us however, it is just another game. We have to be 100% focussed and get three points. That has to be our aim in every game if we want to win the league this season.”
De Jong also added that, as he approaches his 84th game in a City shirt, he still doesn’t know what he will do when he finally breaks his scoring duck.
“It will come, I’m sure of that,” he smiled. “I haven’t planned anything and it will probably be spontaneous but I’m hoping our fans will lift the roof off the stadium when I finally do find the net!
“I thought I was going to score against Leicester at their ground and it was probably the closest I’ve come – but it fell on my left foot and I didn’t hit it as cleanly as I’d have liked.”
