Pep Guardiola insists he still wants to play for Manchester City amid their desperate form and will do everything he can to turn around their fortunes.
City bounced back to a 1-1 draw against Everton on Boxing Day, making it five games without a win in all competitions.
They have won just one of their last 13 games dating back to the end of October, beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Premier League earlier this month.
They have won just one of their last nine in the competition, drawing two and losing six, having previously won sixteen of their previous eighteen, while drawing the other two.
The reigning Premier League champions have scored 26 goals in all competitions since the start of November. Of all the teams from Europe's top five leagues, only Heidenheim, which is battling relegation in the Bundesliga, has conceded more (28).
Guardiola signed a new contract to keep him at the Etihad Stadium in the midst of City's dreadful run despite the uncertainty hanging over the club since they were accused of 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules.
“I will try, I will continue,” Guardiola said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday ahead of Sunday's visit to Leicester City.
“I won't give up. I want to be here. I want to do it and with the situation we have, we have to do it. Of course I want it, everyone wants it.
“I don't want to disappoint my people in terms of the club, the fans, the people who love this club.
“I think we all want to do well in our work and please people. That cannot be denied, it is not a question mark.
“The biggest test is to come back, but we've done that before.”
Despite their poor form, the Opta supercomputer still gives City a 71.7% chance of a top four finish, although their hopes of an unprecedented fifth straight title are all but gone at 0.2%.
City have been hampered by injuries all season, most notably when they lost Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to an anterior cruciate ligament problem in September.
City went 34 games unbeaten when Rodri played in the Premier League last season, but lost three of the four games he missed.
The Spaniard is not expected to return until 2024/25, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké and Kevin De Bruyne have all been on the sidelines.
A flu virus further decimated City over the festive period, but Guardiola says their selection problems cannot excuse their results.
“Sometimes you have injuries,” Guardiola said. “For how many years we were incredibly consistent, but now we are in a bit of trouble and the main reason is that so many key players are injured.
But I saw the team spirit, how we trained this week, how focused they are, how they try to practice.
“We saw that against Everton, but unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted.”
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