Bernardo deserves the best, says Guardiola

“There have been many players that have been who we are. Winning and performing incredibly well. Mentally and everything.

“Hopefully we can deliver to him and he’s going to help us, I know that very well. He’s a special player in those terms. Hopefully we can deliver a good month because he deserves the best.

“We have won 19 titles together and still we are challenging in two and we are going for it, that’s for sure.”

City now sit six points back from Premier League leaders Arsenal, who we face in a 16:30 (UK) kick-off this Sunday.

With a game in hand on the Gunners, victory at the Etihad this weekend would give Pep and Bernardo a significant boost in the hunt for a seventh title.

WATCH: Our last 10 home Premier League goals against Arsenal

Having seen his team swat aside Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks after last month’s Carabao Cup final defeat of Arsenal, Guardiola would have every right to feel confident.

However, the boss says he’s focused on what he’s seeing on the training pitch and doing his best to help a largely inexperienced squad navigate the pressure of a title race.

“My confidence is in how we train and the players believe what we have to do. This is where the confidence comes from,” he said.

“Six Premier Leagues in the past, that does not give you confidence to win the next game because Ederson and [Ilkay] Gundo[gan], Kevin [De Bruyne], Kyle [Walker], Manu [Akanji] - a lot of players who made a lot of things aren’t here anymore.

“A lot are new. We will see. Cherki never won Premier League so how will he behave in that position? Gigio [Donnarumma], Khusa[nov] never been here.

“Nico [O’Reilly] it’s the first time he’s really there and Antoine [Semenyo] arrived a month ago, Marc Guéhi arrived weeks ago.

“There are lots of players who are going to play and try to win the first Premier League in my life.

“How we behave? I don’t know. My target is ‘guys, this will happen tomorrow and we will try to do this.

“I will try to convince them and say ‘let’s go’. That’s the way the game has to be played. Many things we cannot control.”