Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany wants the vital game at home to Manchester United to get underway and for all the talking to stop. City head into the game at the Etihad Stadium knowing that victory would take them back to the top of the table on goal difference with just two games remaining.
The Belgium defender said:
"But I go back to the reasons why I love football so much and this is one of the reasons.
"It's not a fear of playing the game, just an eager feeling to get to the stadium and get it started."
Yet while City boss Roberto Mancini has continually downplayed his side's title chances during that period, Kompany has preferred not to even think about the situation.
The 26-year-old said: "I think we did the right thing deciding we were going to just focus on ourselves.
"I know that's a classic line to come out with, but ultimately, for us, that's the right thing to do.
"Personally, I'm very neutral. I've said to myself since the beginning of the season, whenever I see a competitor play, whether it's United or Tottenham, I try not to care about their result and to be as neutral as I can, so it doesn't have any effect on my morale, and just try to be better every game and win all of our games.
"That's what we've done in the past three games.
"Stats speak - and they are facts. That's why I don't want to get involved in those mental wars.
"I can tell you now there is nothing in the papers that will have an influence on our performance." "People bring you back to it a lot. I can't remember meeting anyone in the last three or four days who didn't talk to me about it.
