Daily Mail

WE CAN GET EVEN BETTER!

As City target 21 wins on the spin, Guardiola makes bold claim

- TV: by JACK GAUGHAN

Pep Guardiola has sent an ominous warning to Manchester City’s premier league rivals — claiming that his recordbrea­king team still have room for improvemen­t.

Twelve points clear at the top, City head into tonight’s clash with Wolves aiming to extend their remarkable winning run to 21 matches in all competitio­ns. in turn, they can equal their longest unbeaten streak of 28 games, set four years ago.

Guardiola said yesterday, however, that this team can still go up a notch, telling his players they must perform consistent­ly to retain their places.

‘We are delighted with what we have done so far,’ said Guardiola. ‘But at the end, what counts is if you lift the trophies or not.

‘We are in one final, in a good position in the league, we are in all competitio­ns, but we cannot sit down and say how good everything is. There is still a lot of work to do and i have signals that we can still improve.’

Guardiola suggested individual­s can raise their game, admitting that he is demanding more from his squad than ever before to stave off complacenc­y.

‘every player can improve,’ he said. ‘When every individual player can improve, the team will improve. That’s why we can always do better. That is the target. We have to demand and be over the players and say we can do better.

‘We’ve had three sunny days in Manchester but we do not relax for one second. When i feel someone is thinking “the job is done” or how good it is, this guy is not going to play. i’m so intuitive to know exactly the guys who are not ready to continue what we have to do.’

City face Manchester united on Sunday before Southampto­n arrive at the etihad a week tomorrow and, while Guardiola accepts plaudits for their recent form, he still insists that reclaiming the league crown is not a foregone conclusion.

‘The champion is liverpool, we are not,’ he added. ‘To do it, we still have to win a lot of games. There are incredible teams who struggle for four or five games to win. it can happen to us, too. last season it happened. at the beginning of this season it happened.

‘ in england, every team can lose and lose games in a row. You know how important the week is — with Wolves, Manchester united and Southampto­n — and then we travel to Fulham. if we are able to do what we want to do, we will make an incredible step.’

Man City v Wolves, 8pm LIVE on BT Sport 1.

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