Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart has publicly stated that the team have let their manager Manuel Pellegrini down following a run of disappointing results of late, which mean that the Chilean is under an increasing amount of scrutiny, amid reports he will be sacked at the end of the current season for a limp UEFA Champions League display and falling down in the Premier League table following the Christmas fixtures.
The Citzens have only won two of their last eight matches in all competitions, and following back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and local rivals Manchester United on Sunday, have it all to do if they are to secure their place amongst Europe's elite ahead of next season.
They host West Ham on Sunday afternoon, hoping to avoid a fifth loss in the space of just seven Premier League matches. Hart had this to say, after City's disappointing derby loss: "It's essential to try and finish third. We've got to get our heads down and win these massive games. [On the 4-2 loss] That's one of my worst in a Man City shirt, definitely. I'm hurting from this defeat - there's a lot of emotion running through me. We'll think about it and we'll go again. It's hard to take - we've won enough of them to know how to lose properly though and we weren't good enough after the first 15 minutes. We let ourselves down and we let our supporters down - but there are six games to go now and they are so big for us."