Pressure no more on us than it is Villa or Tottenham

Former City captain Richard Dunne's words implying that the heat is all on his beloved Blues and not his current employers Villa ahead of Saturday's game has already proved the main soundbite ahead of a weekend which will not only play a big part in the fortunes of both clubs but prove an afternoon of heroes and villains (no pun intended), scores to be settled, good versus, well, you get the picture.

So far as 'needing' Champions League football, Dunne's probably right in the medium-term, but i'm not sure i agree that it's absolutely essential this season. At the start of last year Mark Hughes was given a target of finishing in the top half, we achieved that. This year's target, pre-season at least and publicly stated by both Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Garry Cook was top six. That objective, again going from what we were told on record, was then fast-tracked in light of extra funds given to the then manager, and his subsequent sacking certainly indicated that goals had been brought forward by a year.

The main factor in any disappointment that would follow for fans of any club realistically involved in the race for fourth has quite simply been the form of Liverpool. Even if they'd been slightly less below-par they'd be well away in their usual position of being the best of the rest but not quite good enough for the main prize. Their ten league defeats have opened a door, but that's not to mean that any side of the three who doesn't grab that final slot would have had a disappointing term.

Time seems to be a quick healer, certainly as far as pressure on managers goes. It wasn't all that long ago that Martin O'Neill was being heckled by those who go to Villa Park, being labelled 'tactically inept' by those who mainly don't, and couldn't give assurances of his future amidst rumours of unrest with owner Randy Lerner. Top six and two trips to Wembley surely shows further signs of progress, but odds are he'll pack his bags should they not achieve their greatest target.

It would be interesting to see how Spurs' season may go having to accommodate Champions League football should they see their way over the line. I think they'd be okay, and certainly no worse of than they'd be with the prospect of nineteen Europa League fixtures on the horizon. They are where they are because Redknapp has gotten full use of a squad which at the start of the season, with several players having either not shown their true form or being said to be unhappy, didn't appear, on paper at least, a touch on ours. With the likes of Gareth Bale, Sebastien Bassong, Michael Dawson, Niko Kranjcar and Roman Pavlyuchenko coming in and performing, Tottenham's strength-in-depth is now not a concern at all.

Overall, though, internet baloney aside, most Spurs fans would have been quite content with a top six finish this season, and whilst the way Redknapp has turned them round deserves enormous credit and any potential slip may not be a huge disaster, not being able to offer regular Wednesday evening European football next year would make it more likely that the "bigger" clubs (not wanting to get involved in that particular debate) express an interest in their best performers, and should they not grab fourth then certain members of their squad could quite possibly be prized away, most likely Luka Modric, or the current Lane hero, Gareth Bale.

What no City, Spurs or Villa fan would deny is that the club with most to lose here are the outsiders, the former greats of Anfield Road. They have a slim chance, assuming Spurs don't royally mess things up, but the possibility of Europa League success might be the only thing to persuade their two players - Nando Torres and Steven Gerrard, to stay put, the latter being due his biennial transfer request.

Where the pressure is, then, is difficult to say. Playing the other contenders on our own patch given our great record there, well, us failing to get the necessary results will certainly be painted out as us bottling it, for want of a better phrase, but we're due to be playing two terrific sides who the league table shows are at least as good as us.

Particularly irritating is the assumption by the dimmer amongst us that Spurs and Villa are both some sort of potential saviours of football's soul against a game that's becoming more and more money-orientated. We shouldn't forget that Spurs squad itself has cost the best part of £200m, and Martin O'Neill has brought over £100m of players into Villa. It's hardly obscene bucketloads versus paupers, and certainly isn't an unlevel playing field.

Should we not qualify for the Champions League this year then i've no doubt there'll be big decisions made at board level, but then there's likely to at both Villa and Liverpool, too, should neither of them manage it. Next year, whichever way it goes, will be a huge season, and the owners will almost certainly request an improvement once more. Gambling on a new face or sticking with Mancini would be a big call. I'd err towards the latter, as over his time at the club his results stand up to any of the other contenders, and though it might mean several departures, i'd prefer a manager to be judged on his players and not anothers.

One of the biggest plus-points about our situation is that it lessens the possibility of our better players being syphoned. Not that we're completely invulnerable to the vultures; the clubs who, let's be honest, have the prestige we could only dream of, but being in a position where you don't have to sell and any key player would have to take a hit to his pride (wallet) to move on, well, as much as anyone edging above us would be seen as a huge victory, a rival club strengthening window after window would worry me.

Dunney's assertion that the pressure is very much on us, then, is pretty nonsensical. Our manager is no more likely to be out of job if fourth isn't achieved than his, our star players are much less likely to move on, and we'll maintain the strongest hand to make further additions over the summer. Whilst the business models of both them and Spurs may well be better set-up to cope with seasons after season of dodging the biggest club competition in the world, we're clearly in the most commanding position to keep having a go at it, which surely makes it all the more vital that they grab their chance whilst they can.