Barry: Who handles the pressure will win

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry accepts there is no hiding from the pressure of the Manchester derby.

City will reclaim top spot in the Barclays Premier League from their arch-rivals with victory at the Etihad Stadium in possibly the most eagerly-anticipated Manchester derby ever. City's hopes appeared over as they fell eight points behind following defeat at Arsenal earlier this month but Roberto Mancini's men have since trimmed the deficit to three. Barry told the club's website, www.mcfc.co.uk: "You've always got to hope. There's always a danger of losing concentration if it's not in your own hands, but now it is. "To call it a second chance is probably right. It's all built up to a huge game on Monday and we're all really looking forward to it. "There's probably been less pressure on us in the last few games. I don't think you can get away from the size of the game against United and the pressure on the team. "It's not really an excuse. When the game is that big the pressure is on both sets of players and it's probably going to be down to who handles that best."