Nigel de Jong: Manchester City can overtake Arsenal to finish in third

Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Manchester City’s combative midfielder Nigel de Jong has said he believes his side can finish in third place in the Premier League if the team keeps its focus.

The Blues are sitting in the final Champions League spot but are only five points behind Arsenal and have a game in hand on the Gunners, with Tottenham four points further behind City.

Should City win its game in hand and defeat Spurs at Eastlands next month a top three finish may not be out of the question.

"If we keep our focus then of course we can challenge for third place but all we can do is keep winning and see what happens." De Jong told the club’s website.

"We are in the top four and that is where we want to stay and the way to do that is to not think about the future only the next match."

De Jong was man of the match in Monday’s victory over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in a game which saw Edin Dzeko score his first Premier League goal for the club, and the Dutchman was pleased with the whole team’s contribution to the win.

He said: “This is a collective effort. Last weekend was a good one for Manchester City and now our job as a team is to make sure that next weekend is a good one too.”