We believe in ourselves, says Ake | OneFootball

Nathan Ake says the Manchester City squad have no doubts about our quality and says the fighting spirit is as strong as ever.

City head to Brentford on Sunday for a 16:30 (UK) kick-off, aiming to extend our six-match unbeaten streak.

And the Dutch defender says the belief in the squad remains high, with the new faces showing their determination to join the fight.

“We’ve shown resilience this season [so far],” he said ahead of the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium.

“Maybe from the outside a lot of people don’t think we can make it and stuff like that, but we believe in ourselves - we know we have a lot of different players and staff so obviously it’s going to be new.

“What we’ve shown so far is that we’re willing to work and willing to fight. We’ve had some good results and we’re unbeaten in the last few games - hopefully we can keep it going.”

Ake knows what’s required to win silverware, having been part of four Premier League-title winning campaigns during his time at the Etihad.

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“It’s about sticking together,” he added. “We had a bit of a struggle after the first game. We didn’t doubt ourselves though, we stayed strong, and we believed in ourselves - that’s the key.

“We’ve shown that in the last few games. If we have that belief, we are still a very good team – we just need to keep making those steps and get better.”

The 30-year-old also says City have had to change out playing style with so many opponents defending man-to-man.

“Other teams nowadays play more man-to-man so they’re up the pitch and they want to press us higher,” he said.

“Sometimes, automatically, it’s more of a dynamic game because it’s more difficult to keep the ball than playing against teams that sit in, and we have total domination of the ball.

“That’s one of the big changes this year. When teams play more one versus one, we have to be more direct.

“That’s not just from our perspective – it will also be from other team’s perspectives.”