Everton skipper Phil Neville admits he is hell bent on denting the Manchester City revival under his former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.No surprise there then, from a player who can be assured of the usual hot reception from the Manchester City faithful when the two sides clash at Eastlands on Monday night.

It is a crucial match that will have a major bearing on who finishes fourth in the Premier League.

Neville, along with brother Gary, gained hate-figure status with City fans because they played for bitter rivals Manchester United.

And although ex-Old Trafford man Phil, 31, is now with the Toffees, his desire to get the better of City has not lessened.

He said: "City are always going to be an emotional club. They are so up and down, if they win a couple of games then they are going to win the league, and if they lose a couple they are the worst team in the league.

"But now they have got a manager who has not been emotionally involved in the kind of club that City are. He has had good financial backing and has brought in some very good players.

"They have had a good season so far and I am sure he will want to kick on now, but it is up to us to put a dent into his plans."

Neville has plenty of cause for confidence after Everton's UEFA Cup progress sees them in the last 16 and facing a two-legged clash with Italian club Fiorentina.

Neville added: "Fiorentina will be our biggest test. It is a big European night for us and when we go to Italy it will be a backs-to-the-wall game.

"We will have to be really on our mettle, it is a hostile environment there. I have played there before and you need real character and temperament to handle that kind of atmosphere.

"But we are looking forward to it. We must play with the same kind of enjoyment we have achieved throughout our European campaign this season.

"There has been no fear, no trepidation and we need that to continue."

But it is City first for Neville, and he added: "We are also looking forward to going to City.

"It is a good stadium to play in and City are right up there at the top with us, and it is a defining match and a defining week in our season with Portsmouth at home the following weekend before we go to Fiorentina.

"We are amongst four teams trying to breaking into that top four, along with City, Portsmouth and Aston Villa."

He added: "At the end of this coming week we will have a better idea of where we are going to be at the end of the season.

"Our form hasn't surprised me this season. We had a sticky patch before Christmas and then had players away at the African Nations Cup.

"But we have 20-plus fit players available now, and the bench against Brann was full of experience and international players, and we have not had that all season."

Neville feels Everton deserve their current position, despite dropping out of the top four following Liverpool's win over Middlesbrough on Saturday.

He says: "It is not surprising where we are. We are playing good football and you can see the confidence is high throughout the squad.

"And we have options now, something that has not happened since I have been at this club.

"The league table does not lie. We are where we are because we have shown good consistency, and we need to take that up a level now if we mean to finish in fourth place.

"We cannot be drawing and losing too many games now until the end of the season if we want to finish fourth. If you are fighting for a Champions League spot you must win every game you play in.

"Teams like Liverpool do not slip up that often, certainly not losing, and we have to make sure we don't slip up either."

Everton

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