Manchester City suffered another loss on Sunday, this time in the Manchester derby, losing 4-2 to Manchester United.

“Maybe it is something we can be concerned [about],” said Manuel Pellegrini. “It is easy when you are the team two goals in front to play with more trust than the team that is two goals behind. There are a lot of things that maybe the spirit of the team does not seem the real spirit. But we must try to continue playing the way we did for the first 20 minutes. It is the same team.”

The defeat will cause further scrutiny over the manager’s job but he said: “I am not talking about my position. It is not important.” Pellegrini did state he should take the blame for City’s poor run. “I always think it is my responsibility, always,” he said, before trying to offer reasons for the potential 15-point swing to Chelsea should they win their match in hand. “The only way to explain is because we don’t have the results that we need to have.”