Howard believes they can compete with City in the race for a fourth place finish this season.

"I feel we would be selling ourselves short if we did not say our ambition was to finish fourth," said the US international keeper. "That must be our goal.

"If you are not ambitious, you can shoot too low and if you fail, you are left in limbo. We must aim for fourth but if we miss out we can still make Europe. Finishing fourth is getting harder each year and the big four is becoming the bigger eight.

"Obviously Manchester City will be aiming for the Champions League this season and they are very ambitious.

"That doesn’t bother us and we have shown money can’t buy the spirit we have in our dressing room. We can compete and we are committed to taking this club as far as we can.

"We’ve been pulling in the right direction for several years and the manager’s built up a great squad here."