Barry praises City's midfield options
Yaya Toure is currently away on international duty with Ivory Coast.
Gareth Barry believes Manchester City have shown there is plenty of life in the Citizens midfield despite the absence of enforcer Yaya Toure.
Roberto Mancini's side are currently on a six-game winning streak and have yet to concede a goal in 2013.
With Yaya going it has made it a bit tougher, but we've really got together as a team.Gareth Barry
City travel to Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night, hoping to continue their sequence and close the gap to leaders Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table to two points.
The Citizens are 1.50 to take all three points at Loftus Road and are 7.00 to win by a 2-0 margin, while they are 3.50 to go on and retain their Premier League title.
Their form is all the more impressive as it has coincided with Toure leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations at the end of December.
Last season, Toure's departure for the same tournament saw a downturn in results, until the former Barcelona man returned to help them lift the Premier League trophy.
And Barry feels the team has learned from the massive void he left last time around and are now proving they are not overly-reliant on the midfield powerhouse.
Barry said: "We want to end up as champions again and so the lads have really knuckled down. With Yaya going it has made it a bit tougher, but we've really got together as a team."
City have, however, suffered a blow with the news skipper Vincent Kompany could miss the next three games after suffering a recurrence of his calf problem during the weekend FA Cup win at Stoke.
That could mean Joleon Lescott getting a run of games alongside Matija Nastasic in central defence.
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