Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has admitted that Pep Guardiola's first campaign at the club "has been tough", but is confident that the Catalan is the right man to turn things around.
The Citizens are left battling for a place in the top four heading in the final week of the season, having exited all three cup competitions earlier than expected and failed to offer any sort of title challenge.
Guardiola's arrival at the Etihad Stadium last summer was expected to bring a wave of silverware with it, but the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss will end the season trophyless for the first time in his career.
Fernandinho has no doubt that Guardiola is guiding City in the right direction, though, and is hopeful of holding off a late push from Arsenal to finish in the top four.
"This season has been tough for us - something went wrong," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying. "But at the end we still have a chance to go into the Champions League and I'm sure we can improve next season.
"[Guardiola] has his own philosophy and we have proved already we are able to do what he wants. We are trying to improve week by week, training session by training session. I'm sure we are improving, for the next two games and for next season as well.
"Our target, our goal, is to win the next two games. Especially the next one at home [against West Brom] in front of our own fans because I think they deserve it. Then the last game is at Watford, which will be tough again but we are ready for that."
Fernandinho has featured 30 times in the Premier League for Man City this season, while also being used a further 10 times in other competitions.
Daniel Lewis
