by Manchester City captain Kyle Walker is confident the champions will soon recover from their alarming slump.
City’s recent failure threatened to become a crisis as they crashed to a fifth successive defeat with a surprising 4-0 home drubbing by Tottenham on Saturday.
It is the club’s worst run since 2006 and, with three defeats coming in the Premier League, it puts a damper on their hopes of winning a fifth successive title.
Walker expects City to start putting things right as they host Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday before a potentially critical trip to leaders Liverpool next weekend.
“We are going through a bad period but we will come out of it in the end,” said the England right-back.
“We have the characters and enough abilities to do it. We will not give up. We have all achieved a lot for this club.
“It’s a new season and we have to fight for the Premier League again.
“We have a game on Tuesday, we just need to get a win and hopefully we get our mojo back.”
“Do I think we’ve lost confidence? No, I think it’s stupid of us to say that. We just have to start winning again.
City had started brightly against Spurs, seemingly energized by the announcement of manager Pep Guardiola’s new contract extension and a pre-match celebration of Rodri’s Ballon d’Or victory.
Yet they are now sorely missing the injured Rodri’s presence on the pitch as the team capitulated after James Maddison scored the first of a quickfire birthday double in the 13th minute.
Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson also got on the scoresheet in the second half as City’s 52-match unbeaten run at the Etihad Stadium was broken by the Londoners.
Walker, a former Spurs player, said: “It’s first attack, first goal; second attack, second goal. This takes the wind out of your sails.
“I thought we had chances too, but they finished theirs and we didn’t take ours. It’s the little details that add up to big problems.
“We all take responsibility for this and we must remedy the situation as quickly as possible. This is football, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves, we now have to dig deep and look forward to Tuesday’s game.
“It’s time to show our character and we will continue to fight like we always have, until the end.”
Maddison stole the spotlight from City to throw her own party on her 28th birthday.
His display more than justified his recall by manager Ange Postecoglou after a period of disgrace, although he insisted he was not playing with a point to prove.
Maddison, whose total playing time in the previous two Premier League matches was just 14 minutes, said: “I wouldn’t say that was the correct wording. You have something to prove in every game you play, that’s the mindset you have to have.
“I’ll just make sure that whenever I get the chance, he can’t leave me behind.” No player is happy not to play.
