Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany relishes chance to rectify poor form at Old Trafford

Vincent Kompany believes Old Trafford is the perfect place for his Manchester City side to travel to next as they look to restore a semblance of respectability to their season following a desperately poor run that has all but ended their hopes of retaining the Premier League title.

Manuel Pellegrini's side, who pipped Liverpool to the title by just two points last term, lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace on 6 April and now head into their clash with Manchester United having tasted defeat in each of their last four top-flight games on the road.

Given that their rivals have now won five matches in succession with the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ander Herrera, and Juan Mata all in imperious form, City's players and supporters can perhaps be forgiven for feeling a little apprehensive and pessimistic about their chances of success in the forthcoming derby.

Club captain Kompany, however, claims that a contest of that magnitude could present an ideal opportunity to immediately banish memories of a painful night in South London.

"For me, my only concern is we get back to our best form. I've learnt from the past seasons as well that finishing a season strongly can have an impact on your next season as well," the Belgian international, whose own individual form has deteriorated significantly over recent months, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"We have United on Sunday and a derby is a derby. It doesn't matter what place you are in the league, it's a derby. If anything, it's a good moment to go into a derby. I guess the momentum is a little bit with our neighbours at the moment, but it's the perfect place for us to go and try to rectify what we've had on Monday."

If City are to complete the double over Louis van Gaal's rejuvenated United, then they will need to rediscover a vital finishing instinct against the third best defence in the Premier League marshalled by arguably the best young goalkeeper in Europe in David de Gea.

The visitors dominated proceedings at Selhurst Park, yet registered just four shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes and never looked capable of completing a stirring comeback once Yaya Toure had reduced the deficit late on.

January signing Wilfried Bony missed the trip with an ankle injury, leaving Pellegrini with no reserve strikers behind Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko and only Frank Lampard and Samir Nasri to call upon as attacking options from the substitutes bench.

Such an absence of strength in depth in key areas is indicative of City's muddled transfer policy over recent windows, when the club, restricted moderately by Financial Fair Play restraints, bolstered their squad with the additions of a number of players who are evidently not of a sufficient quality to help compete with the likes of leaders Chelsea.

A lack of effective spending has been one of the key criticisms levelled at Pellegrini during his second season at the Etihad Stadium and it seems increasingly unlikely that he will still be in his current job when City look to strengthen again this summer.