Nigel de Jong is confident Manchester City can finish in the top four after returning to winning ways with a stunning win over Chelsea.

Mark Hughes' men had fallen off the pace in the title race following a run of seven straight draws, although they claimed a morale-boosting win against Arsenal in the Carling Cup last week.

City carried that form into Saturday evening's clash with Chelsea, coming from behind to prevail 2-1 thanks to goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez.

De Jong played a key role in midfield and the Dutchman insists City can now look ahead to the rest of the season with optimism.

He admits it is not realistic to expect a title challenge this term but has set his sights on Champions League qualification.

"The belief is back after all those draws," he said in the Daily Star.

"If you beat Arsenal you know you have a very good side, but you can see the quality we have when we compete with Chelsea and all the other teams in the top four.

"Are we targeting the league title? No. the main thing in the team is to focus ourselves on the first four places. That's realistic."