Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has refused to play down the significance of this weekend's Manchester derby, irrespective of Premier League table permutations.
The Sky Blues make the short trip to Old Trafford on Sunday with an eight-point lead over local rivals Manchester United.
However, the 31-year-old has stressed that the game's significance is about far more than maintaining their advantage over the Red Devils.
"I kind of press pause when it's a derby and the season doesn't matter to me anymore, it's all about the derby," he told Sky Sports News.
"Managers and players do like to downplay it, but I don't care, it's rubbish. The derby at that moment is the most important game in the world to me.
"It means more than anything else, and it will be everything I've got, everything the team have got and everything the fans have got to win that game.
"It doesn't matter which position we are in, whether we need a point, three points, I don't care, we need to make sure we leave that place with our heads high."
Both City and United have Champions League fixtures to contend with before they renew their rivalry at the weekend, with United hosting CSKA Moscow this evening and City taking on Shakhtar Donetsk tomorrow.
Dan Saney
