Dunne: we can hold off ’Pool in Europe hunt

MANCHESTER CITY skipper Richard Dunne feels the Blues have as much chance of finishing in a Champions League spot this season as under-performing Liverpool.

Dunne goes back to former club Everton today knowing a City victory would not only represent their first Goodison Park triumph since 1992 but also greatly enhance their chances of landing a coveted European spot.

Despite emerging from the festive programme in fourth spot, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been reluctant to offer any firm targets for his team, still believing it would be a “dream” to remain where they are at present.

However Dunne, whose outstanding contribution to City’s recent form saw him crowned club player of the month on Thursday, does not see anything in Liverpool — who scrapped out a goalless draw at Eastlands last month — to make him feel scared. The Dubliner is convinced City have it within them to keep both halves of Merseyside at bay as the battle for Champions League qualification intensifies.

“We came off the pitch against Liverpool and thought they were not much better than us,” Dunne said. “We all took some confidence from that.

“Last year it was Arsenal that people thought would be the team to catch. But this year, Liverpool are the team who have not pulled away from the rest of us. They are a side the likes of ourselves, Everton and Aston Villa will be trying to catch.

“We are all in there and we have as much chance as them of getting into that fourth position.”

Eriksson recognises that Dunne and central defensive partner Micah Richards have been two of the mainstays of City’s superb opening half of the campaign. With goals proving harder to come by than the Swede would ideally like, it has been the responsibility of the City defence to keep the opposition out.

Eleven clean sheets, including three on the trot heading into this weekend’s short trip to Merseyside, bears testimony to the effectiveness of Dunne and Richards.

However, since September, 20-year-old keeper Joe Hart has been an almost permanent fixture in the Blues line-up as well. The former Shrewsbury starlet has seen off Sweden’s World Cup keeper Andreas Isaksson and Kasper Schmeichel to be installed City’s number one.

City could not have chosen a better time to tackle Everton as the Toffees are still recovering from the heartbreak last-gasp loss at Chelsea on Tuesday. In addition, key striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu has departed for African Nations Cup duty with Nigeria, joining South Africa’s Steven Pienaar as a certain absentee for David Moyes’ men.