Gael Clichy: 'Manchester City aren't in first gear yet'

Manchester City defender Gael Clichy has warned Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea that the team are "only going to get better" as the season progresses.

The Sky Blues sit third in England's top flight behind both the London giants but, despite hitting 37 goals in their opening 13 fixtures of the campaign under manager Manuel Pellegrini, the France international is adamant that City are not yet at the peak of their powers.

Speaking to the club's official website, Clichy said: "This is a new team with a new manager and new players and we are only going to get better."

The former Premier League champions have lost four times away from Eastlands so far this season, and Clichy believes that the team must solve their frailties on the road in a bid to strengthen their title claim.

He added: "We need to go away from home and make sure we start to pick up points.

"You have to look at the positive side and even though we lost against Cardiff, Aston Villa and Sunderland away, we still managed to play better than the opposition.

"Maybe we need to be more focused in the last pass, the last moment, in the box, and score the first goal. When you score the first goal, the game is different."

The Manchester giants coasted to a 3-0 victory over Swansea City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, courtesy of a brace from Samir Nasri after Alvaro Negredo had opened the scoring.

Pellegrini's men, who sit six points adrift of Arsenal at the summit, face West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Wednesday.