CITY players will go into the game with Fulham bearing both brickbats and bouquets from their boss Stuart Pearce.
The Blues' boss credits them for working extra hard to snap their six-game losing spree but is still annoyed that they wasted a great chance to qualify for Europe this season.
And he hopes to ease that disappointment by climbing back up the Premiership table in the final fortnight - something that may also help his transfer kitty.
The City chief spent some time with chief executive Alistair Mackintosh being briefed on the club's financial situation last week and now understands the budgets for next season.
They are believed to have been based on a 12th place finish in the table.
Anything below that, eats into the figures at the rate of around é500,000 per rung and would also gobble up a big per centage the additional revenue made from a widely televised run to the last eight of the FA Cup.
"It would be to my benefit if we got up the league, the club has budgeted to finish in a certain position and we are below that at the moment," revealed the manager.
"We got some reward at Villa Park in midweek for the hard work that we have put in.
Grafted
"They have stuck in and grafted well but it is important for us to finish with a four game unbeaten run and if you are asking if I am disappointed with our current league position I would say `yes.'
"We need to be more resilient and we have lost too many games. In the summer I will sit down with the staff and see where we think we can improve.
"I felt we could have done better and my personality is such that I would have felt that wherever we ended up in the table.
"All managers are the same, I bet Jose Mourinho is sat now thinking he could have done better too.
Fortune
"There is not really a sense that the table is not telling the truth because you finish where you finish. It is not fortune that puts Chelsea on top of the pile and Sunderland are relegated. There are too many games for that to be the case.
"We were at a crossroads when we played West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-final, they have gone on to the final and up the league and we ended up on the other path and taken a knock in confidence. Hopefully that self-belief will be back now that we have won a match."
Pearce is desperately seeking a triumphant end to the campaign not just for his own satisfaction but also to put a smile on the faces of fans that he says have been as helpful as they could have been.
"I have mixed with a lot of supporters clubs during the bad run and I have had nothing but positive backing from them," he went on.
"They have been magnificent and they deserve a boost."
The manager could start with the same team that ended the 1-0 win at Villa Park in midweek but must wait for late tests on both Joey Barton (knee) and Albert Riera (cramp).
David James has had a stiff back but has declared himself fit and all three are expected to play.
Pearce's big decision will be who he features alongside Darius Vassell in attack. Georgios Samaras started at Villa but was replaced by Antoine Sibierski in the second 45 minutes.
Where do you think City will finish? Have your say.
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I said at the start of the season we'd finish 14th. I will stick by that prediction.
Psycho blames his players for wasting the chance to get into europe! what a nerve. his pants team selection against wigan on the staurday started the rot. his naive tactics and use of squad players in key positions in both games were to blame.
Why are we airing our financial constraints in public? Could it be that we are using it as a tactic to encourage bids for Distin and Barton? Surely we wouldn't do that..... would we....
12th or 13th.
tenth 50points
We might get something from the Fulham game but not a chance from either blackburn or arsenal , the board should have made more cash available to SP if they wanted to finish 12th place or above , not that it matters where we finish the board wont give any cash to SP anyway, drop zone next season if it continues then see what to budget for.
I was hoping the article was about our players training on a baby foot or subuteo and maybe have a chance to win that championship. Dunne looks like he has fast hands and could be our best player.
We shouldn't be budgeting for where we finish this season, we should be budgeting for where we want to finsh next season. It's obvious noone from outside is showing any interest in investing in city, so SP will have to do his shopping down at the local car boot. We're being linked with the likes of Paul Dickov and Andy Todd, we're meant to applaud the news that Andy Cole and Nicky Weaver have signed new contracts. C'mon City surely you can do better than that. We should be interested in signing the likes of Jermaine Defoe and Milan Baros not some 'past their sell by date' footballers no matter how hard they work. I think this next season we're really going to found out if Stuart Pearce is a real manager or just a touchline comedian. He'll have to find some bargains that improve our squad, it can be done, paul Jewell does it, Sam Allardyce does it and so does David Moyes and Alan Curbishley.
I suppose we've always got city's press officer Paul Tyrrells 'spin' to look forward to, for example, the day after the next transfer window closes we'll hear ''City nearly signed Ronaldinho'' being released to the press.
Right I've had my moan now and I feel a lot better.
I see that that Jimmy Bullard's in talks with Fulham!
6pts from the last 3 would guarentee 12th place as we have a game in hand om Everton and are 16 goals better off. I think that 4 points is more likely but that should hopefully be enough. As for those who are moaning - ofcourse the transfer funds available depend on the fininshing position because the placing dictates the amount of money that comes in. We've never been in danger of going down this season and I see no reason why we should next either. Everyone got very excited when it looked like we could get into Europe but the squad was just too shallow. In the end that has to be a three to five year aim and although the bad run hurt me as much as anyone I don't see dissaster looming one bit right now.
2-1 against Fulham on Sat.
what is about SP, why cant he see the wood for the trees, Sibierski is pants, simple as, he will cost us the game agianst fulham if he starts, ok i know he played well when he came on against villa, but i really couldnt care less, i would prefer to see daniel sturridge start at least that would make the game interesting
I'd like to refer our great leader to two other stories produced by this august organ.
1: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/sport/football/wiganathletic/s/211/211858_bullard_in_fulham_talks.html
If there's a clause in Mr Bullard's contract, we should be in like Flynn.
2: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/men/news/s/211/211794_ben_3_branded_a_soccer_yob.html
If we can't get Jimmy Bullard, how about this kid. He's wearing the right shirt, at any rate. Good on you Ben!
14th and 12 positions behind an improving United. Diagnosis points to an honest team of grafters with a commendable defensive record but precious little creativity or cutting edge.
I think we could do well in the next few games. Even Arsenal at home - if they have already failed to qualify for the Champions League through league placings, and taking into account that they might only play half a team considering their next match will be the big one in Paris, such a scenario might well give us a first win over them since 1991. But the big one as always is the next one - Fulham at home. You would imagine that we'll have the upper hand - they're now safe despite being outplayed at home by Wigan. Pearce's words never fail to leave me in admiration of the man. We're on the right track with him, no doubt. As he said himself, he's not in the excuses business, he's in the stand-up-and-be-counted business. As long as we bear that in mind we should be optimistic. I know I am. CTID
...not high enough
"Where will City finish". Eventually, in the Unibond League. We have a manager with no experience of top flight football success. We have a board with no ambition except to claw their investment back at all costs. We have no ground, no assets and, next season, our support will be around 10,000 per match down. It makes you want to cry. I can remember when we were a TRUE giant of the game.
....in the Nationwide!!
Fed up of Eastlands you are spot on. Sibierski is a waste of a blue shirt. He may as well have himself decapitated for all the good it does us when the ball lands on his head in the box.
Has he ever actually scored with one of his headers, or for that matter had the ball on target?