Manchester City legend Colin Bell believes the Blues can add some style to their substance and finish the season on a high note.

The Blues great is delighted to see his old club so handily placed for an assault on the crucial fourth place, as a thrilling campaign enters its final phase.

The 64-year-old, still an Eastlands regular, says he would love to see Roberto Mancini's side start to hit the high notes in terms of the type of football they play, as well as the results they gain.

"The position is very good, but the way we are performing is not what I'd like it to be," said Bell.

But he was quick to point out that Mancini, since taking up the manager's job 11 weeks ago, has had a lot of difficulties with which to cope.

"The problem has been all the injuries, plus a new manager coming in, and people getting to know the new system they are playing," said Bell.

"Nothing has been settled completely since the new manager came in, in terms of what team he wants to play.

"If he had the opportunity to get all the players fit, it would be an easy job to get the right team playing, and playing all together.

"But there have been so many injuries, it has been a case of chopping and changing players, and swapping and changing the system, so it has all been a little bit up in the air.

"We have not been playing too well. The results we have been getting are fine for the way we are performing, but everyone would be happier if we were performing well and picking up points the way we should be picking them up."

Wish

Bell looks like getting his wish very soon. Apart from long-term injury victim Michael Johnson, the only likely absentees for Sunday's trip to Sunderland will be Martin Petrov (knee) and the suspended Emmanuel Adebayor.

Patrick Vieira will again be available after a three-match ban, and Roque Santa Cruz had some vital match practice during international week, scoring as Paraguay beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in a friendly in Spain.

And the fact that the Blues are now close to having a full squad from which to choose, allied to the shock 4-2 win at Chelsea last time out, is cause for optimism - and for Mancini to abandon any over-caution he may have brought with him from Italian football.

"It frustrates me," said Bell. "I don't know if it's because he's a foreign manager, and it's the system he has played for years.

"Under Malcolm Allison and Joe Mercer, the theme was always that we were better than the opposition, so just go out and score more than them.

"We never laid our stall out for a draw. They had us believing that every game in which we turned out, we could win.

"If you aim for a win, a draw is acceptable. But if you aim for a draw, the only other result is a loss."

Some City fans have been frustrated by Mancini's tactic of playing three defence-minded players - Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry and Vieira - in the home win over Bolton and the league draw at Stoke.

Barry and de Jong

Bell believes the problem lies not with playing Barry and de Jong together, but with how City set up in front of those two.

"Barry and de Jong are similar but they can play together," he says. "It all depends on how you are going to play up front, and whether you are confident that your team is good enough to turn other teams over.

"It's a great thing mentally to go out and believe that you are going to win."

It has been noted that City went to Chelsea with ostensibly a defensive set-up, with Pablo Zabaleta sitting alongside Barry and de Jong in a tight midfield triangle, and came away with four goals and three points.

"The win at Chelsea was fantastic," said Bell. "I haven't seen us perform away from home, but going there I was just hoping for a draw, with the way Chelsea have been flying."

The goals at Stamford Bridge were shared by Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy, and Bell was full of admiration for them, as much for their work ethic and passion, as for their ability.

"Those are the kind of players City supporters will always take to, those who give 110 per cent and get sweat on their shirts," said Bell, who played 394 games for City from 1966 to 1979.

"They can have the odd bad game, and fans will put up with that, but we all love that commitment and will always get behind them."

Now City head for Sunderland, the nearest Premier League club to Bell's home village of Hesleden.

So will the Blues legend have any split loyalties for the match at the Stadium of Light?

"There has only been one club on my mind for the last 30 to 40 years, and that's City," said Bell. "I'm disappointed that the north-east clubs are not doing too well, but I'm more concerned about City doing well."

THE Prestwich and Whitefield branch of the City Centenary Supporters Association meet tonight at Heaton Park Social Club (7pm), with two first-team players expected to attend. Admission is £2 for adults and free for children, with non-members invited to attend.

What do you make of Bell's comments? Have your say.