Vincent Kompany insists Manchester City's title hopes are still alive, despite their disappointing defeat to Arsenal.
City will fall eight points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea next week if they follow up their loss to Arsenal with another reverse at Stamford Bridge.
Manuel Pellegrini's men rarely looked like a team capable of winning the title on Sunday, but Kompany thinks it would be foolish to write his team's chances off just yet.
In fact, the skipper thinks the result could actually help City's chances of winning the league as he thinks the players will be even more determined to beat Chelsea in what is already being billed as a 'title decider'.
"In theory it should be better for us now because we will definitely be more fired up for that (match)," the City captain said.
"We have always been great in games like this so I'm actually looking forward to it."
City moved level with Chelsea over the Christmas period but draws against Everton and Burnley have proved costly for Pellegrini's side.
When asked how damaging the Arsenal defeat could be for City, Kompany said: "You are disappointed with any result that's not a win, but we've been in situations like this before and it won't affect the way we look at the Premier League, it won't affect the way we look at the Champions League or the FA Cup.
"We will just make sure we are better the next game. We are always liable to kick off a massive run and that's the kind of club that we are.
"Maybe this run has stopped, but the next one should be coming soon hopefully."
Kompany did not put in the kind of display expected of him on his return from a month-long hamstring injury lay-off.
The Belgian earned a booking for taking down Olivier Giroud and was lucky to stay on the pitch after a second foul on Alexis Sanchez which went unnoticed.
The former Hamburg defender also gave away the penalty that handed Arsenal the lead, although replays showed there was minimal contact between the centre-back and Nacho Monreal.
There was no doubting his hunger to impress, though, and that bodes well for City as they look to retain the title in the coming four months.
"People who know me see I work like an animal when I am out," the 28-year-old said.
"I want to be back stronger and I've come back at the right time as well."
Kompany refused to criticise Mike Dean's decision to give a penalty against him for the slightest of touches on Monreal.
"I've said my bit on the pitch and I don't want to go further," the Belgian said.
"It's football. We pick ourselves up now. That spirit is there, more than ever, in this team."
Kompany hopes new signing Wilfried Bony will have a big impact when he joins the squad after the African Nations Cup.
"I rate him," said Kompany, who flew to Abu Dhabi with his team-mates for a five-day warm-weather training camp after the match.
"If we are serious about the league and the FA Cup then you need good players like him. You can't get enough of them.
"If you look at all the big teams around us, they have the same kind of strike force. You do need it. The teams we are competing with have the same tools and it's as simple as that.
"I quite enjoyed facing him (Bony) in matches, but I will face him in training more now."
Source: PA
