Santa Cruz says home games could be champion for City

Roque Santa Cruz believes Manchester City’s run of home matches can help them into the Champions League as they prepare to host Everton on Wednesday.

City are the only Premier League side yet to be beaten at home this season and they have won nine of their 13 league matches at Eastlands.

Victory over David Moyes’s side will move Roberto Mancini’s team, who have a game in hand on Tottenham Hotspur, a point above Spurs and into fourth place – the final Champions League spot on offer to English clubs.

City’s run-in includes away matches against Burnley and Arsenal before they travel to West Ham on the final day of the season.

But after Everton, they entertain Wigan, Birmingham, Manchester United and close-rivals Aston Villa and Tottenham at Eastlands.

Paraguay forward Santa Cruz, who scored in City’s 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday, thinks that home form could prove decisive, starting with the match against Everton.

“It’s massively important,” said Santa Cruz. “It’s the game that will put us ahead of Tottenham.

“To feel that we are close to that fourth spot is massively important and we need to make sure that we win that game.

“Everybody’s happy because we’re still in contention for fourth spot and Fulham was a massive win for us.

“The games coming up will be decisive for us. We’re playing at home and we need to get the points.”

City will be without former Everton defender Joleon Lescott, who suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up at Fulham, and Mancini is also without left back Wayne Bridge and Michael Johnson through injury.

Bridge’s absence means Javier Garrido is likely to continue at full-back and the Spaniard feels that striker Carlos Tevez has been every bit as influential as Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney this season.

Tevez made a controversial pre-season move to Eastlands from Old Trafford.

And while Rooney has scored 33 goals this season, Argentina striker Tevez has managed 22 despite enduring spells on the sidelines.

“Wayne Rooney has been great for United this season and Carlos Tevez is maybe our Rooney,” Garrido said. “When Carlos plays, the team respond. They feel he is one player who will always give his best.

“We are in a good position, and the right frame of mind.

“Of course, we have to do well in the last few games most of which are at home. We have to be strong but it’s in our own hands.”

Everton have their own eyes on a European place, in the Europa League, after moving up to eighth in the table with a run of just two defeats from their last 11 matches.

Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta thinks Everton will need to win all but two of their last eight matches to earn another European campaign.

“I think that we will need to win another six games,” Arteta said.

“That’s really tough with the other teams around us, but I think we’re showing that desire.”

He added: “That’s what’s happened over the last few years, the start to the season has been really bad and we’ve been really inconsistent.

“At home we’ve been terrible and then afterwards it takes a lot of effort to get up there. But at least we’re there now.

“People are really excited again about the team and they’re trying to get us into those spots.

“The City game is a hard one and they are really good at home as well. We did really well against them at Goodison and last year we did well against them as well.

“So it’s going to be a good game, a tough one, but it’s going to be so important.”