Hart - Title bid still alive

Hart - Title bid still alive

Joe Hart: Insists Manchester City will never give up chasing Manchester United

Joe Hart has insisted that Manchester City are still in with a fighting chance of winning the Premier League but feels they must claim maximum points from their remaining five games.

The title race appeared to be over after Manchester United opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the table last Sunday, when City lost to Arsenal and Hart kicked a post in frustration after Mario Balotelli had been sent off.

However, there was a further twist in midweek as United were surprisingly beaten by Wigan and Roberto Mancini's men thrashed West Brom 4-0, refuelling Hart's belief that City could yet become cham pions.

Thinking back to his heat-of-the-moment response to losing at Arsenal, the goalkeeper said: "I was just frustrated.

"You get wrapped up in what happened and it's frustrating when you lose a player like that, but we're still in there fighting."

The Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on 30th April has long been viewed as a potential title decider, but Hart knows the players cannot afford to look too far ahead and must first concentrate on beating Norwich in their next match.

Having restored confidence with the victory over West Brom, Hart hopes City can embark on a winning run until the end of the campaign.

"We needed to beat West Brom after what happened against Sunderland and Arsenal and we're back to winning ways at home," said the England No.1.

"Now we need to take it on to the road against Norwich.

"We've been disappointed with what we've done recently. We'd let the fans down, so it was good not just to win but t o put on a show.

"But the ultimate goal is that we keep fighting for the title.

Scrapping

"It's no good thinking of the derby against United at the end of the month.

"In the same way that United never gave up chasing us, we'll never give up either. Never. "
Joe HartQuotes of the week

"We've got to beat Norwich first and they've been fantastic this season. Then it's Wolves, who are scrapping for their lives, so let's get them out of the way and then see where we are."

While Mancini has publicly written off City's chances of overtaking United, Hart is confident of making life very difficult for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

"He just tells us to keep winning," added Hart.

"In the same way that United never gave up chasing us, we'll never give up either. Never.

"If we can get 89 points by winning our last five games, it would take some beating.

"The season is alive and even if, God forbid, we were already out of it, we would still be fighting."

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