Good – but there’s more to come from City: that’s the verdict of Patrick Vieira as he casts his eye over the season so far.

The vastly experienced Frenchman knows what it takes to kick on from a decent start to a season, and how to battle away on two fronts.

Most of Patrick’s starting appearances have been in Europe, but the busy Christmas period might mean he sees a bit more action as Roberto Mancini tries to keep his squad fresh.

“I’d say it’s so far, so good,” the 34-year-old declared. “We are near the top, just three points off Arsenal. We’ve qualified for the next round of the Europa League so it is looking good for us.

“But of course there is still a long way to go to what we want to achieve here, but I think we can be satisfied with what we have done so far.”

Next week City travel to one of Patrick’s former clubs with their passage into the knock-out phase of the Europa League assured, and the 1998 World Cup winner does not think that European football will take a toll on City’s domestic ambitions.

Europe is not a distraction because we have a big squad, and doing well in the Europa League was a target for us.

“We have this big squad but it’s important that everybody gets into focus and is ready to play in all the games we have. We’ve done well so far in Europe and we can go a long way in that competition.”