Yaya Toure believes some critics are waiting for Manchester City to fail as they prepare to go full throttle in Monaco this week.
City seem to have put the inconsistencies of the autumn and early winter behind them by going 11 games unbeaten since a humbling 4-0 loss at Everton in January.
That has put them in good heart for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against the Ligue 1 leaders, into which they will take a 5-3 aggregate lead, on Wednesday.
But midfielder Toure feels the momentum must be maintained to keep the knockers off their backs.
Toure said: "When you're a winner and when you want to achieve important things you have to work hard. Sometimes it's difficult but you have to be positive because we know people are waiting for us to fail. What we have to do is try to keep going, working hard."
Toure feels the scrutiny of players' performances in the modern game is very intense.
The 33-year-old said: "It's like that. We are playing very well at the moment and we have a team that plays mostly attractive games and sometimes the pundits are waiting to analyse.
"But, okay, it's part of the game, and in football now. Ten or 20 years ago it wasn't the same but today we just have to do our job.
"We are playing well but in the end winning is the most important thing."
Manager Pep Guardiola said after the first leg against Monaco that he expected the second meeting to follow a similar end-to-end pattern.
Both sides were fully committed to attack at the Etihad Stadium and that produced an exhilarating spectacle.
With City's defence their weak link and Monaco's attack so strong, Guardiola indicated he was unlikely to change his philosophy and adopt a more defensive outlook.
Paris St Germain, notably, failed when taking such an approach last week, failing to protect a 4-0 first-leg lead against Barcelona.
Toure said: "From my point of view, and maybe the manager's too, the best way to defend is to attack. If you sit deeper... when I watched PSG-Barcelona, PSG had fantastic players up front but they were trying to defend.
"When you go and play games like that and you are four goals in front, I think that is the wrong thing to do.
"We are going to attack, we never do it the other way, we will attack and they will expect that as well. The best defence is try to score."
Source: PA
