Sven Goran Eriksson has admitted Manchester City are about to head into the unknown after being hit with a number of injuries.
The former England manager has enjoyed a successful start to his life as Blues boss, steering them into a top five position for much of the campaign.
Eriksson believes the run of games during the holiday period will reveal plenty about how the team will fair at the end of the campaign.
"This period is an excellent one to see how good we are," he said.
"We have a lot of people at the club who are not used to playing so many games over Christmas and that is going to be a big test.
"Football is strange. Four or five months ago, everyone would have accepted a place in the top 10. Today is different.
"Maybe we feel different as well and feel as though we have the opportunity to do better. But let's see how we go on over the next few games and look at it after Christmas and the New Year."