Stephen Ireland has declared that Manchester City are better off without the deadwood gotten rid of by Mark Hughes.

Some players at the club were unable to sustain Hughes' stricter training after the easier time they had under predecessor Sven Goran Eriksson.

Ireland, a mainstay in Sparky's plans, has slammed those players saying the Sky Blues are now a better team.

"The first meeting the gaffer had, he said 'we are going to do things differently and either you get on board or you're going to find yourself in a hard place'," the 23-year-old told The Sun.

"Some people didn't change. Some were 28, 29 and it was new to them. How can you get to that age and not have a regime of being professional?

"Last year he was fighting his corner all the time. Not many players were pulling in the right direction - the kind who are not here now.

"He's brought in the right calibre of players, definitely all professional, they want to achieve things. Every player he has signed I was over the moon about."

Ireland was fearful that he might have been given the boot after Hughes took over City.

But the midfield maestro stuck it out at Eastlands.

He said: "There was speculation about me going to teams like Bolton and Sunderland and they're the last places I want my career to be.

"It was a wake-up call really. I knew straight away where I wanted to live my life and play my football."

Ireland's allegiance to the club was evident when he chose not to travel home with his team after the final game after Eriksson's tenure when they were thrashed 8-1 in the last game of the 2007-08 season against Middlesbrough.

He said: "It was devastating. I don't blame Sven but we had the impression this was his last couple of games.

"It felt really amateurish because we went into the last few games thinking it doesn't matter whether we win or lose.

"I was so angry I was close to tears because the goals were just flying in - it was like a training game.

"No one was that bothered and I was thinking 'this is ridiculous, am I the only one who's upset'."

Ireland was also furious with prima donnas like Elano hogging the limelight.

The playmaker was sold to Galatasaray for £8 million in the offseason as Hughes sought to establish an identity at Eastlands, and Ireland said: "There was all this talk about Elano and players like that.

"They were getting all the credit but I didn't think they had done enough to earn it.

"He took all the praise and publicity and I felt, as hard as I was working, I never got that."