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Josko Gvardiol is urging Manchester City to “stick together” and carry the momentum from their midweek Champions League success into Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.
City injected some life into their frustrating campaign as they came from behind to snatch a place in the play-off round with a 3-1 win over Club Brugge on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who have fallen well off the pace in pursuit of a record-extending fifth successive Premier League title, had also been facing the prospect of early elimination from the European competition.
With the morale-boosting win coming after a defeat of Chelsea by the same scoreline, Gvardiol now hopes City have turned the corner.
“The most important thing is that we stick together, especially in the hard times,” said the Croatia defender.
“It’s what we are doing, and I think we are getting better. We are still finding our rhythm but we can’t complain, we are doing good – we are still in the Champions League and FA Cup, we are fourth in the league and still there.
“We just need to keep going that way and finish the season on a high note.”
City trail the Gunners, their closest challengers for the title in the past two seasons, by six points ahead of this weekend’s contest at the Emirates Stadium.
The last encounter between the two sides was a fractious 2-2 draw in September in which City’s influential midfielder Rodri suffered a serious knee injury.
The Spaniard has been sorely missed with City losing 10 games in his absence since the end of October.
Rodri has been seen in the dressing room at games recently and has spoken of his hope of returning before the end of the season.
Yet, with the 28-year-old having initially been ruled for the remainder of the campaign, manager Guardiola is unsure if that is realistic.
He said: “It’s lovely to have him in the locker room, his voice, his presence. Of course, it’s important.
“When he wants to travel, as I always say to the English players, ‘If you want to come to special places, of course, you can come’. It’s nice to have him.
“But what I said was the most important goal right now is to recover well. You are not a teenager anymore but you still have years to play. It’s going to happen if you recover well.
“To make a step back for the next season is not intelligent.”
