Manchester City captain Richard Dunne has praised the club's new foreign players for the way they have settled at Eastlands.

He told the Manchester Evening News: "I don't think I had played against any of them.

"I had heard of a couple but not enough to know what sort of players they were. But as soon as they came out training, you could tell they had something."

While Brazilian midfielder Elano has grabbed most of the headlines, Martin Petrov has also excelled, while Javier Garrido and Vedran Corluka have been quietly efficient alongside Dunne in a much-improved City defence.

"Everyone was wondering and questioning how we were going to knit together in that first game," recalled Dunne.

"So, the win at West Ham was the boost we needed for the rest of the season."