Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is full of confidence after his meeting last week with club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.

Whenever the owner or chairman speaks about the club and the manager, then obviously maybe a negative agenda will interpret that in one way, but people won't understand what we're actually saying," Hughes told City's website.

"Others will interpret that in a positive way, but the key line in the statement that Sheikh Mansour put out almost immediately after I left is that I have an absolute mandate in the short term, medium term and long term.

"I think people should really concentrate on that statement, rather than any other interpretation that they put on the statement that came out. It's a huge decision of trust that has been placed on me & Garry Cook to drive the Club forward in the right direction. I'm very comfortable with that because I know that eventually we will get to a point where we can compete at the top table. We are not there yet, Sheikh Mansour understands that but we know how to ensure that happens.

"We're trying to build for the future, but there will be a little bit of pain along the way - we'll have to accept that. Sheikh Mansour and the Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, know that and it's not a process that will happen overnight. It is something that will happen over a number of years."