Manchester City players feel like they are doing everything possible to try and end their rotten run of results.

The Blues at least avoided defeat on Boxing Day but a 1-1 draw with Everton meant it is now just one win from their last 13 games in all competitions. John Stones, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker all missed the game to add to the injury concerns, with Pep Guardiola missing eight for the fixture just days before they travel to Leicester for their next game.

It was the same old story for City, with promising play that wasn't clinical enough to put the game beyond Everton and a brittle defence that conceded from the visitors' first real chance. Erling Haaland missed a penalty that would have given City the lead again in the second half, and they were left hanging on in injury time as Everton missed on a break that would have won the game.

READ MORE: I saw furious Ruben Amorim reaction to red card - he is ruthless with Manchester United's players

READ MORE: Sir Jim Ratcliffe considering bold Man United U-turn after Dan Ashworth departs

There was frustration from the players and the fans in the game, and while Guardiola tried to remain positive throughout even he had moments where he couldn't hide his worry at the team. The message afterwards was that this was one of their better performances in the run, although there is also a feeling that they have done everything possible to get back to winning ways.

"We need to keep on working. There's nothing else we can do at the moment," said defender Manu Akanji. "What do you expect us to do? Change system? Play other players?

"We're trying everything and we played really well today, it just didn't turn our way. It feels like a frustrating afternoon but when you compare it to the other matches we played really well today from the first minute to the last.

"We tried to score a goal, we tried to play offensive football. They basically scored out of nowhere. We did enough to win the match today but it didn't turn our way."

Guardiola joked that even his players are asking if they are going to sign new players in the January window to help, but Akanji sidestepped questions about the lift it would give the squad. Instead, the defender is focusing on what he can change in his own game to make the team better even if he is against anything major.

"I always change some things. There are things that feel good to me right now but I'm also not that guy who changes everything when things go wrong that I believed in before," he said.

"We as a team were able to play this way before and sometimes you have a bad run and things don't go your way so it's good to look at things that aren't working out that well right now but you shouldn't be at the point where you're changing everything because not everything was good before and not everything is bad now. I still believe that we will come back to the way we used to play - it will come sooner or later."