Keegan says City have enough to beat drop

Kevin Keegan firmly believes there is enough character in his Manchester City squad to avoid the drop.

The 4-2 FA Cup defeat against 10-man Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday ended any hopes of silverware for City this season.

But their campaign is far from over, with Keegan’s men facing a relegation battle unless they end a 14-match run without a league win.

City are just three points off the relegation zone and face a tough schedule over the next few weeks, with a trip to Bolton at the weekend followed by home dates against Chelsea and Manchester United before travelling to fellow strugglers Leeds on March 22.

Keegan, though, feels his players will be up for the challenge.

“We are in a battle – that’s for sure, we are battling to stay in the Premiership,” he said on the club’s official website, www.mcfc.co.uk.

“We are only four points above the bottom two, so we are definitely in there.”

“People might think with the players we have we should not be in such a position and I feel that way too.

“But through a combination of not getting results when we should have done, maybe a bit of bad luck here and there and a poor performance here and there we find ourselves in it.

“It is up to all of us to dig our way out of it and we are capable of doing that. We have enough character and showed a lot of that in the second half at Old Trafford.

“We have enough ability and we showed it at times in the second half in the Cup derby and we certainly have the stomach for it.”