Vincent Kompany says Manchester City's dreadful form might somehow work in their favour in next weekend's Manchester derby.
Goals either side of the break from Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon sent City to a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday, leaving the defending champions fourth in the Premier League.
After a fourth consecutive away defeat in all competitions, Manuel Pellegrini's side face a fight to secure an automatic UEFA Champions League berth and trail third-placed city rivals Manchester United by a point going into Sunday's derby.
As captain Kompany prepares to end the season without silverware, the Belgian urged his team-mates to finish with a flourish regardless.
"For me, my only concern is we get back to our best form," he told The Guardian.
"I've learnt from the past seasons as well that finishing a season strongly can have an impact on your next season as well.
"We have United on Sunday and a derby is a derby. It doesn't matter what place you are in the league, it's a derby.
"If anything, it’s a good moment to go into a derby. I guess the momentum is a little bit with our neighbours at the moment but it's the perfect place for us to go and try to rectify what we've had on Monday."