Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has set a challenge for all the defenders at the club.

The Swiss international admits his defensive teammates can help kick-start their stuttering season.

City suffered another Premier League blow, losing 2-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

“The Southampton game was totally different to today [vs United]," he explained post-game.

"We didn't do well in that game, we lost a lot of duels, we didn't play well with the ball, I think we did a lot better today.

"We were in a good position for a long time and then we conceded the two goals. For me, it's a different game today than it was against Southampton. I think our performance was better today than on Wednesday but still in the end in the league it's the three points that matter. We should have come out of it with these three points, but we made some mistakes, and we have to improve for the next game.

“Hopefully we can show it on Thursday against Tottenham. It won't be an easy game, but also when we get the lead, we have to be clear in our heads, we've got to finish our attacks, defend together until the last minute and keep a clean sheet. I think in every game if we can keep a clean sheet our attackers are always capable of scoring a goal.

"If we don't concede goals, we can make the most of the game – that's the goal for the next game. There are still 20 games to go, there's 60 points to get and hopefully we'll get all of them."