Manchester City midfielder David Silva has said his team must work on conceding fewer goals now that their captain and defender Vincent Kompany is out with a calf injury.
Kompany might not be able to make a comeback until the final part of the season.
"He (Kompany) is a key player for us and our captain. With or without him we have to work hard to concede less. It's a duty we have to fulfil before too long. Hopefully we can do that in this new year. It's not just the defence that defends but the whole team," Silva was quoted as saying by The Guardian on Tuesday.
"It's the same when we're attacking - you need to have everyone helping out going forwards, so it's down to us all to perform our defensive duties and it's something we'll be trying to do to help the cause."
Silva said they will miss their captain but added there are players in the outfit willing to step up and take on the responsibilities when needed.
"Any team will miss their captain when they're out and we're no exception. When you look all over the field there are lots of figures willing to step up to the plate when needed," he said.
"We have lots of experience all over the team and it's up to people like that to do that. Thinking positively, we're battling on every front and involved in every trophy so it's about trying to be involved as long as we can to the end of the season in each of those competitions."
City are currently third on the English Premier League points table with 39 points from 20 matches, three points behind league leaders Arsenal.
