Sven-Goran Eriksson is confident Manchester City will bounce back from their defeat at Everton and go on to secure a place in Europe.The Swede's side have won only two of their last seven league games after a blistering start to the campaign.

With 11 matches left the clock is ticking down on City's bid to clinch a place in the top six. And Eriksson accepts that they might need to win as many as eight of them to achieve their European goal.

That is why he is anxious to get back on track against Wigan at Eastlands on Saturday after the home defeat by Everton on Monday.

That setback stunned supporters following the superb derby victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

But Eriksson promised: "We are ready to go and fight again. We are a good team and in excellent physical shape.

"There are 33 points left to play for and we will win more games than we lose.

"If you look at our last three matches the only time I was disappointed was the first 30 minutes in the defeat by Arsenal.

"We were better than Everton in lots of ways but they were difficult to penetrate and we gave away two easy goals.

"Maybe we have slipped a bit at home but on the other hand we beat Manchester United."

Eriksson will be forced to make at least two changes to his side as Micah Richards is recovering from a knee operation while Martin Petrov starts a three-match ban.

Petrov's frustration got the better of him against Everton and he was sent off after kicking out at Leon Osman.

"They are two of our better players, so it is a blow not to have them available," said the City boss.

Vedran Corluka looks likely to replace Richards at the back while Brazil playmaker Elano is set to come in for Petrov.

City could also be boosted by the return of midfielder Michael Johnson after an abdominal strain.

Eriksson has options in attack with Nery Castillo fit again and 19-year-old Felipe Caicedo intent on proving he has a bright future in England.

More Football News from TEAMtalk