José Fonte says a near-perfect performance will be required at the Etihad Stadium if Southampton are to maintain their unbeaten away record.
Saints have won two and drawn four of their opening six away games this season, conceding just four goals in the process.
Ronald Koeman’s men head to Manchester City this weekend looking to extend that run, with Fonte well aware of the task at hand.
“To get a result at Man City you need an almost perfect performance,” Fonte told BBC Radio Solent ahead of Saturday’s game.
“We really need to go there with a good gameplan and have everyone pulling in the same way to achieve what we want.
“It’s important to start well, but the game is 90 minutes. We’re going to have to sustain, we’re going to have to be really focused and concentrate for the 95 or whatever minutes we need to.
“We go there with the mentality of winning and now people expect us to do something. That’s good for us.”
Manuel Pellegrini’s side have lost their last two games, including a heavy 4-1 defeat to Liverpool in their previous Barclays Premier League outing, with Fonte believing that could play into Saints’ hands.
“Coming back from two defeats, they will be edgy and the fans will be edgy,” added Fonte. “We need to go there and exploit that.
“I think it’s a good time to go there. There’s never a great time to go there, let’s put it that way. But after two defeats it’s always hard.
“We know that, when you’re coming off two defeats, you are always going to be on the back foot.
“We hope we can exploit that.”
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