Midfielder Vincent Kompany believes Manchester City have to prove they can live with the pressure of expectation before they can begin to succeed in the Barclays Premier League.

With Mark Hughes having spent about £120million in the summer to bring in the likes of strikers Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor the club are expected to be realistic Champions League contenders this season.

It is a new pressure for City but one which they must embrace according to Kompany.

"United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea having been living with it for years," said the 23-year-old Belgium international, who recently signed a new five-year contract.

"They have still delivered. Unless you can do it as well, you don't belong there. At the moment there is no reason why I should say we can't finish in the top four and be as good as all those teams.

"There is no sign those teams are better than ourselves, Tottenham or Aston Villa."