Silva: There’s anger in the dressing room

ANGRY David Silva has called on star-studded Manchester City to stand up and show they are true champions.

City, dumped out of Europe, suddenly find themselves SEVEN points behind leaders Manchester United after a disastrous defeat at Sunderland.

And Silva demanded that City pull themselves back level by the end of February — and then set about winning the Premier League again.

The defending champions face a tricky date at Norwich today fully aware they are on the ropes and in danger of imploding still father.

But midfield genius Silva insists they must get over the pain and heartache of the 1-0 loss at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day and quickly put their house in order.

The 26-year-old said: “The defeat in Sunderland was a hard blow for us. Nobody believed we would lose.

“As a team we have a huge desire to repeat our title success.

“But as we know that the Premier League is very open and if you give away chances you can be beaten.

“Even so, there was a lot of anger in the dressing room — and not only from the coach.

“Those three points were so important because in our situation they could make the difference between us winning and losing the title.

“And really, if we do not win at places like Sunderland, it is nearly impossible to fight for the success in this league.

“We have spoken about all this, about our irregular form.

“It’s not a question of lack of quality or bad luck. Rivals know how to play against us and each day make it more difficult for us to triumph.

“Perhaps being knocked out of Europe had an influence but now we need to react and to demonstrate that City are the English champions.

“There is a long way to go — but we cannot allow United any more advantage at the top of the table. The future is in our own hands but we have already shown how powerful we can be during our worst moments during the past year.

“Our goal this season was the Champions League — but now that chance has gone we want to win the Premier League and dedicate the achievement to our fans.

“The only way to do it is to work harder every day and to avoid more stumbles.

“It won’t be easy but our challenge is to be back level with Manchester United by the end of February.”

Whatever happens, it looks as though City must repeat last season’s epic win at Old Trafford when they get down to derby business on April 6.

Maybe not by 6-1 again... but they will need all three points.

Silva added: “The derby game is always special but this one will be like a final for us. We need to arrive there still alive in the league race.

“But the title won’t just be won that day. To repeat our success we need to win in every stadium. There can be no more excuses after our defeat at Sunderland.

“Never could we believe at this stage we’d find ourselves seven points behind United but it’s happened.

“And, once again, although we face a complicated game at Norwich it’s a game we simply must win.”

Being out of Europe could have its pros and cons as City bid to overcome their bleak mid-winter.

And Silva admitted: “To watch the European matches by television is never positive — on the other hand there is more time to recover after key matches. Though personally I would have preferred the stress of the competition by staying in Europe.

“Injuries have affected me a little this season but week by week I feel I am recovering my powers of last year.

“I’ve not scored enough goals but there is still time to get the numbers up.”

City assistant boss David Platt is also confident the champions can recover lost ground in the title race.

He said: “Seven points is a significant amount.

“United are in the driving seat but there is half a season to go. But I don’t think it is insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.

“It’s not as though we are playing badly. We’re dominating possession and every statistic in most games, except goals.”

After 19 games last season City had scored 53 goals and were top of the table, but at the halfway point this term they have managed just 34.

Platt added: “These things have a habit of balancing out over the season.

Goalscorers go through barren spells. It is just unfortunate that all of them seem to be having one at the same time.”