There's something of a lull in proceedings as the media waits for the next round of games in the current international break, but Gareth Barry is on hand to cast his eye over how City are being perceived at the moment.

Level-headed Gareth's view is that City have stirred up the green-eyed monster of jealousy among rival fans, and it's always nice to see the papers dust off that hoary old chestnut, 'boo boys', isn't it?

The Sun says: 'Yet the strong-willed England star insists he will not be beaten by the boo-boys and believes the anti-City backlash will only make Mark Hughes' team even stronger.

"It's something we've spoken about amongst ourselves at City and the manager has made the same point to us.

"I think a lot of the stick comes from jealousy. There was a year or so when the same thing happened with Chelsea before it blew over.

"It's important we don't let that criticism affect us and we have tried to use it in a positive way, to bring us closer together in the dressing room and make us even stronger."'

The much-discussed Alan Wiley will be in charge of our game against Wigan next Sunday, which the Daily Mail interprets as: 'Alan Wiley's bosses last night delivered a defiant response to Sir Alex Ferguson by putting the vilified referee in charge of Manchester City's Barclays Premier League game at Wigan on Sunday.'