Vieira: City stars are proven winners
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Your support makes all the difference.Patrick Vieira is certain Manchester City have a bright future - because of the huge characters in their dressing room.
After advancing into the FA Cup fourth round by beating Leicester on Tuesday, City will turn their attentions back to the Premier League on Saturday when they visit Aston Villa.
Although they remain outsiders to be crowned champions in May, it cannot be discounted given the form Roberto Mancini's men have been in recently.
With the Europa League to play for as well, that long wait for a trophy seems to be drawing to an end.
And Vieira is adamant the Blues will not be found wanting when it comes to the mental side of the game.
"We are a group of winners," said the veteran midfielder.
"You can have all the talent but if you don't have winners in your team it is really difficult to win something.
"But in every position, we have them. With those kinds of players, the fans can be proud. More importantly, the future looks really good."
Vieira counts himself among the winners and has the trophies to prove it from his time at Arsenal and Inter Milan.
The 34-year-old may no longer be an automatic choice, but the hunger burns as deep as it has always done and if, as expected, Vieira leaves City at the end of the season, he wants to leave with something tangible to show for this efforts.
"I don't know what will happen at the end of the season but I want to win some silverware," he said.
"City have become one of the most exciting clubs in the world. It is really ambitious, which is fantastic for the players.
"When you look around the dressing room, providing we work hard, I don't see why we can't win something."
That tantalising prospect is one of the reasons that enticed Vieira to City in the first place.
With it came the knowledge he was not going to start every week, which explains the mature reaction to such relative lack of involvement for a player who has spent his career at the centre of things.
"It is all about making a choice," he said.
"If I played for big club like Manchester City with all their players, I knew it would be difficult to play all the time.
"I have been working really hard and I haven't have any bad injuries thank goodness, so it has just been a question of fighting for a place.
"But midfield is the strength of our team. Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry have been fantastic since the start of the season.
"It makes it difficult for me but if I want to play I have to do better, it is as simple as that."
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