Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony believes the champions now have to target victory in every remaining game to retain their title.
City remain five points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea after slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday.
The London side also have a game in hand and City have just 11 matches left to turn the situation around.
Bony said: "It is disappointing, we have made it difficult for ourselves now.
"If Chelsea win (their game in hand) it will be more difficult for us to get close to them. But we still hope - there are 11 more games and every game we just have to win, be positive for the rest of the league and try to get maximum points.
"We need to win, win, win and hope Chelsea will drop some points. It is a difficult moment for us but we still hope we can do it."
Bony might hope to play a greater role in City's run-in after making just three goalless substitute appearances since signing from Swansea in January.
Bony did not feature for a month after the move was completed due to his involvement in Ivory Coast's African Nations Cup win and has had to make do with coming off the bench since.
His 78th-minute introduction at Anfield came with his side already 2-1 down and he was unable to affect the outcome. His only notable contribution to the game came when he was booked for an aerial challenge on Adam Lallana that arguably could have been worth a red card.
City had cancelled out Jordan Henderson's superb early strike with a well-worked Edin Dzeko equaliser but the outstanding Philippe Coutinho restored the hosts' lead with a 75th-minute stunner.
Sergio Aguero had hit the post and he spurned two other good chances, while David Silva also went close late on, but Liverpool dominated and ultimately deserved their victory.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini will continue to chase Chelsea but the challenge from below is strengthening, with third-placed Arsenal just four points behind.
Pellegrini said: "We are worried about our team, not the other teams that are behind us. It is important to try and continue playing the normal way.
"In the last two games in the Premier League we scored nine goals and we won the two games. That is why we repeated the same starting 11.
"This is more important than to be worried about things you cannot manage."
Source: PA
