Saturday 30 April 2016 10:39, UK
Eliaquim Mangala believes he is proving himself at Manchester City, but says the best is still to come.
The defender has faced criticism following his big-money move from Porto in 2014 and admitted that his first season in the Premier League was "difficult".
However, he has shown signs of improvement, particularly in recent weeks with clean sheets against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
He told Sky Sports: "My objective has been to prove myself, to prove that I can do something good. Every single training session and every game I try to improve the way I defend.
"I know I can do better. This is not my best. The most important thing for me is consistency. To have a good game and then maintain consistency.
"If I want to prove myself it is on the pitch. If you are good on the pitch that is the reality. It's very important for me and the manager. My objective is to make the manager believe in me because I want to win titles with Man City."
Mangala did not start for City in their Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid last week, but says: "It's very important for every player to be strong mentally.
"When you don't play it is difficult to accept, which is normal because everybody wants to play every game, but you have to keep working and keep believing.
"You will have an opportunity to prove the manager and prove to everyone that you are a good player and can play well. You have to be focused and not feel sad. If you go that way it will be difficult because you will not be ready."
Before travelling to Spain for the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday, City travel to Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
With Manchester United five points behind in fifth and with a game in hand, City are not yet guaranteed a top-four finish in the league.
"We want to finish as high as possible," says Mangala. "If we could finish second it would be amazing but the objective is to win the last three games.
"We can feel we are playing as a team. We think in the same way and with this mentality we can do something very special for this club."
Watch the interview with Mangala on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports News HQ from midday.
