Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson believes his team's spark has returned - just in time for a gritty battle against Bolton.City secured their first win in four Premier League outings with a 2-1 home defeat of Tottenham last weekend.

The winless run had threatened to scupper City's European ambitions and with no goals and just one point coming from those matches, Eriksson admitted the players had started to feel a little flat.

"The best medicine for any team in the world is to win football games," said the Swede.

"It was very good and you can see the players now, they work with a spark.

"They should always have that but for the three games before that Tottenham game, we got only one point and we didn't score one goal.

"So they had gone stale a little bit - but that's forgotten now and let's try to do good tomorrow."

Eriksson was pleased with City's performance against the Carling Cup winners, which included goals from Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha, but accepts they will have to modify their approach at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday.

The Trotters are battling for survival having slipped into the bottom three and Eriksson expects to be given a thorough reminder of why Gary Megson's men are renowned for their physical approach.

He said: "They will do everything to win the game because they really need points desperately.

"It will be a battle, in a fair way of course, but very aggressive. They play aggressively.

"They will not let us play - no time or space - but that is normal.

"Many times it is more difficult to meet teams like this than, for example, Tottenham, because they are fighting for their lives.

"They really don't have anything to lose so they are battles, football battles. They are very difficult to win, these games.

"It will be another type of game compared to Tottenham - that was open football. I don't expect any open football tomorrow, unfortunately."

Eriksson watched as Bolton were beaten 2-0 by champions Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Megson's men failed to deal with Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored both goals, and rarely looked capable of causing an upset but Eriksson believes they will have taken positives from the goalless second half.

"I think they played well on Wednesday and United scored two set-pieces," he said.

"There were good combinations, some good football. They were very aggressive all over the pitch and that is what I expect. The difference was Ronaldo.

"When it is a team fighting for relegation they will be very difficult to stop."

City retain hope of qualifying for European competition next season but their most realistic route now looks to be through the Intertoto Cup.

That is still likely to require a sixth-place finish and City, currently in eighth, are two points behind Portsmouth and one below Aston Villa.

"There are so many complications I stopped doing [looking at] it," Eriksson admitted. "I will try to beat Bolton and then we'll see."

More Football News from TEAMtalk