City's 100% start to the season has given Gareth Barry the ideal start to his Blues career.

The midfielder reports for international duty with three straight wins in the Barclays Premier League, and another in the Carling Cup, safely in the bag after another victory at Fratton Park on Sunday.

The three points earned on the south coast came courtesy of Emmanuel Adebayor's third of the season, one of just a few chances that City had against a spirited Pompey desperate to pick up their first points of the campaign.

Reflecting on the win, and our fine start to 2009/10, Gareth said:

"Another three points is a massive thing for us. They played some good stuff at times, but we managed to keep a clean sheet, so not conceding in three Premier League games is very good for us.

"It's important to get that first goal, once we did that we settled down and played some good football. It was always going to be a battle, they had a fair bit of possession in the second half and Shay made a couple of good saves. It's great to keep a clean sheet here because they will always keep you under pressure with the support they get.

"We've had three tough games, two on the road and one at home so this is all we could ask for. The clean sheets are a big bonus. We've played some good stuff at times, considering we have a lot of new players that are still coming together. Hopefully, we can go from strength to strength."

City have scored at corners in two consecutive games, having struggled at the set-piece for a couple of seasons, but Gareth modestly praises the man he found with such accuracy on Sunday afternoon.

"Ade is a great front man to hit, and when he attacks at corners with the leap he has there are not many defenders that can live with him. Hopefully he's got a couple more of them left in him this season."