Sven-Goran Eriksson

Man City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has kicked off the derby build-up by urging his players not to throw away the hard work they have put into this season so far.

City travel to Old Trafford on Sunday having endured their poorest run of results and performances under the Swede.

Knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Sheffield United and with just one Premier League win in the last eight outings, confidence is at a low ebb.

But Eriksson will point out to his troops that despite dropping points and surrendering their unbeaten home record in recent weeks, they are still in prime position to push for Europe.

Other sides around the Blues have also been beating one another and dropping points with abandon, making the race from fourth to 10th in the table as exciting as it has been for years.

And the canny City boss knows that once February is over, there are a whole heap of points-taking opportunities awaiting his side.

He is convinced that having spent the first four months of the season in the top five, they can finish the season as strongly as they started it.

"We have to make sure it is firmly in our heads that the season is not finished," said Eriksson, who will be attempting a derby double in his first season in charge.

"We want to play in Europe next season. And if we are to do that, then it is not good enough to start games in the way we did on Saturday against Arsenal or at Sheffield United the week before.

"One thing is for sure, we don't want to start by going 2-0 down to United in the opening 20 minutes like we did against Arsenal last Saturday. We will not make life as easy for them as we did for Arsenal. We must wake up and challenge them in the early part of the contest."

Despite the defeat to the table-topping Gunners, Eriksson does not believe the gulf in class between the Blues and the Champions League contenders is unbridgeable.

"I accept that for the first 20 minutes against Arsenal it was like a senior team against juniors," he said candidly.

"But there were lots of moments when we looked as though we are not that far away. We must make sure there are more of those moments and no more slow starts and the first chance to do that is against United on Sunday."

Meanwhile, Eriksson celebrated a busy 60th birthday yesterday by meeting Pele in Switzerland and then flying back to Manchester to discover that the Academy team had produced their own present and struck an early derby week blow for the Blues.