Having suffered back-to-back defeats against West Ham United and Crystal Palace, Walker believes it is vital Pep Guardiola’s side return to winning ways to raise confidence levels ahead of Saturday’s clash with Manchester United.
The defender concedes City have not reached our usual high level in our previous two games and wants to see a response against a side we beat 5-1 in Belgium a fortnight ago.
“Hopefully we can provide the same level of performance and result,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“It is important after the the last couple of games that we get off to a winning start again and get back on track and hopefully we can go on a good run.
“We have to get back to winning ways. We lost against West Ham in the Carabao Cup and then Crystal Palace come to the Etihad and win 2-0.
“We know the standard has dropped in the past two games. The best thing about football is that it’s always the next game and you can put things right.
“It is a massive week for us now with the Manchester derby coming up.
“We need to make sure the morale is back up and the lads are all singing off the same hymn sheet and playing well so we can attack this game and go into the Manchester derby good form and a little more confidence than we’ve got at the minute.”
Walker also revealed how impressed he has been with Jack Grealish since his summer switch from Aston Villa.
The playmaker has started all three of City’s Champions League games so far this season, scoring and claiming an assist as Guardiola’s men beat RB Leipzig 6-3 on his debut in the competition.
Walker acknowledged Grealish has had to adapt to no longer being the focal point of the team in the way he was at Villa but, having played with and against him, the right-back has no doubts about his team-mate’s talent.
“We have all seen over the last number of years what Jack can do,” he added.
“He has come into a new team, with a new philosophy and different players. People take time, people can adapt in different ways.
“The talent is there. He shows it day in day out in training and also I have had the pleasure to play with him at international level.
“How he keeps the ball, his dribbling, attracting plays and drawing fouls, it is great to watch and it is a nightmare, I can assure you, for defenders.
“Let’s give him time. He has not played badly, he has probably just not hit the assists and goals he was getting at Aston Villa but we like to share the load here.”
