Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has insisted that he has been unfazed by criticism of his form this season.
The 31-year-old has been maligned for his poor start to the campaign as he has failed to match the level of his displays that helped drive his side to the Premier League title last season.
Toure has admitted that he has ignored the criticism of his game, and is determined to help his side gain ground on Chelsea at the top of the table after an impressive performance in their 3-0 win over Southampton on Sunday.
He told reporters: "For me the most important thing is that I always try to do my best for the team. People always try to criticise you, but for me, I don't think about those things. I only focus on my team.
"I know the Premier League is very, very tough and all the time we were losing, I knew we were going to get criticised. But for me, the most important thing is that we fight until the end because our squad is fantastic and we know how to fight.
"We know this league is hard and we always try to play much better than the Fulham game because we need to keep our standards up. We won't give up, we don't want Chelsea to get further away because we need to close the gap on them."
City trail Chelsea by six points in the title race ahead of their clash against Sunderland on Wednesday.
Simon Sinclair
