Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson believes his relationship with chairman Thaksin Shinawatra can survive a downturn in results.

"The relationship between a manager and the chairman or owner of a club is as important as the one between the manager and his players," said Eriksson.

"If it breaks down somewhere, it makes life very difficult for everyone.

"I am happy to say I have a very positive dialogue with Dr Thaksin. I speak to him every week, sometimes twice a week. He comes down to the training ground every now and then and I went out for a meal with him on Wednesday, which was nice.

"Let's see if that goes on when we lose a couple of games. You never know but I think it will be alright."