Manchester City midfielder David Silva has admitted that his side must respond from losing to Sunderland with a victory over Norwich City on Saturday.
City lost 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day to fall seven points behind Manchester United in the Premier League table and Silva knows that more dropped points at Carrow Road could prove costly to their title ambitions this season.
Silva told The Sun: "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.
"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."
Silva has made 23 appearances for Manchester City this season.