Wednesday 24 February 2016 11:49, UK
Pablo Zabaleta insists Manchester City's players are fully focused on proving their worth, despite being aware that the club are already making moves to revamp the squad ahead of Pep Guardiola's arrival in the summer.
The current City squad travelled to the Ukraine on Monday and have been preparing for the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday night.
With manager Manuel Pellegrini to be replaced by Guardiola in the summer, a number of the City players are facing an uncertain future and could be sold once the Spaniard takes charge at the Etihad Stadium.
But Zabaleta insists any possible personnel changes in the summer are not an issue and says City are concentrating solely on achieving success this season, including winning a first Champions League title for the club.
Zabaleta said: "It's a competition in which we've reached the last 16 for the last two years and now is a chance to make a step forward.
"We know this club is making a lot of effort to bring in top players, but we know we are 100 per cent focused on what is a big chance for us to continue in the tournament. We need to perform well and see if we can get a result."
City go into the match with Kiev on the back of their 5-1 FA Cup fifth round defeat to Chelsea on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, where Pellegrini elected to play a young side, insisting that the current injury situation at the club dictated his selection.
Six teenagers featured against Chelsea, which included five debutants, as Pellegrini prioritised the Champions League clash with Kiev.
Zabaleta said: "It's a different competition. I know we are coming in from a big defeat but now we are 100 per cent focused for the game on Wednesday. It's a different game."
Zabaleta was a member of the City side beaten on their last visit to Kiev, in the Europa League, five years ago.
"Last time we played here in 2011 it is not a good memory. We lost the game but it's a long time ago," he added.
"When you come to this country you play against good teams and you have to be well prepared to compete well. It's going to be a tough game, they have very good players. We expect a very hard game."
