Pep Guardiola says Manchester City's current crisis is a sobering reality check and a reminder not to take for granted their unprecedented success under him.

City have won a remarkable 18 trophies since Guardiola arrived at the club in 2016, among them six Premier League titles – including a record four in a row – and the Champions League. But the dominant side in England for the past decade are currently languishing in seventh place, 14 points off leaders Liverpool, with one win in 13 games in all competitions – including nine defeats.

It is a remarkable fall from grace for City, who were favourites to make it a record-extending fifth straight title win at the start of the season, but who are now struggling to finish in the top four. Sunday's game at Leicester is Guardiola's 500th in charge of City, a milestone that would ordinarily be a cause for celebration, but one that threatens to be overshadowed by their current malaise.

But the recent slump has served only to increase Guardiola's resolve to take City back to their all-conquering best, with the 53-year-old having signed a new contract until 2027. “Of course I want it, everyone wants it,” said Guardiola. I will not give up. I want to be here, I want to do it and with the situation we have I have to do it.

“I don’t want to disappoint my people in terms of the club, the fans, the people who love this place. It’s not just now, it’s since I arrived [in football] as a player and then a manager. I think all of us in our job want to do it well and to please the people. That is undeniable or no question mark. It’s easy to understand.

“The biggest test now is to come back again – that has already happened - we have done that before. That makes you remember how good the past was, that’s the truth. This makes you realise how good it is what we have done in the past.

“Sometimes you have injuries. For many years we were incredibly consistent but now, yes, we are a little bit down and the main reason is having so many important players injured. But I saw the team spirit, how we train, how focused they are and how they try to practice. We saw that against Everton but unfortunately we couldn’t get a result.

“But it is what it is. I prefer it wasn’t this situation, but it is what it is. We have to try to be as calm as possible and see what we can do better in the next game, with players coming back. That’s what we want to try and that’s all I want to do.”

Guardiola refused to point the finger of blame at misfiring striker Erling Haaland, who has just one goal in seven Premier League games and who had a penalty saved in the draw with Everton. “I don’t have it in my education to start complaining, to point at people,” said Guardiola. “It’s happened it’s life, it’s football, so let’s try it again.

“That’s why all the time we have had success, because always it is never enough. We will try it again and again and again. That’s why we won a lot of titles. Every three days it was a game and win, win, win for many, many years. Now we have to do the same and the results are not good.”

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