Motivated Manchester City used their slump in form to spark their recent turnaround, insists striker Erling Haaland.

The Blues managed just one win in 13 games during a wretched run in form that threatened to derail their season. And while they are out of the Carabao Cup and all but out of the Premier League title race, they remain in Champions League and FA Cup contention.

Three straight wins culminating in an 8-0 demolition of fourth tier Salford City on Saturday has lifted the mood at the Etihad ahead of a tricky trip to Brentford tonight. And while Haaland admits that confidence took a hit during the poor run, the Norwegian says City didn't make wholesale changes to their approach, instead rediscovering the hunger that has brought them so much success in recent years.

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“When you lose, you can lose your confidence and suddenly we started losing," said Haaland. "It is a winning club here and if you just look at the last ten years there haven’t been many games lost. It has been weird, but it has been giving me motivation and the hunger in my belly to keep going, to get better and to perform.

"You can speak about how we have been unlucky with injuries and we have, but you can’t look for excuses. The good thing is that we have so many games and we can go straight to the next game to try to turn things around and that is what we are doing.

"Also, in training we have a hungry manager who is hungrier than ever and that is something that I love and gives me motivation, seeing how hungry and motivated he is even with everything that he has won and done for football for so many years.”

Haaland believes the success of the squad meant ripping up the blueprint would be foolish, instead highlighting that small margins can often make big differences in football.

“Why should the team that won four (Premier League titles) in a row change anything?" he added. "You should keep going. It is about yourself and to look at yourself and how you can turn it around. It is margins in football.

"You see some of the old clips from City with the margins and how it can win you the Premier League like the goal line clearance from John Stones against Liverpool or Rodri’s block against Liverpool that made them win the league.

"Those small things are the big difference. It is small margins in football and in the end you have to turn those margins into a positive and your path. You have to find your form, but look at the players, it is still the same players. Look at everything they have won. It is about taking a big, deep breath and trying to smile as much as possible.”