City was pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Everton last time out, making it five games without a win in all competitions.

It has only won one of its past 13 dating back to late October, beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Premier League earlier this month.

It has only won one of its past nine in the league, drawing two and losing six, having won 16 of its previous 18 beforehand, drawing the other two.

The reigning Premier League champion has shipped 26 goals in all competitions since the start of November. Among all teams from Europe's top five leagues, only Heidenheim, which is battling relegation in the Bundesliga, have conceded more (28).

Guardiola signed a new contract to keep him at the club in the midst of City's terrible run, despite the uncertainty hanging over City since it was charged with 115 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.

"I will try, I will keep going," Guardiola said ahead of his side's trip to Leicester City.

"I will not give up. I want to be here. I want to do it and, with the situation that we have, we have to do it. Of course I want it, everyone wants it.

"I don't want to disappoint my people in terms of the club, the fans, the people who love this club.

"I think all of us in our jobs want to do them well and please the people. That is undeniable, not a question mark.

"The biggest test is to come back again, but we have done that before."

City has been hampered by injuries all season, most obviously when it lost Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to an anterior cruciate ligament tear in September.

City went unbeaten through 34 matches when Rodri featured in the Premier League last season but lost three of the four games he missed.

The Spaniard is not expected to return in 2024-2025, while Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Kevin De Bruyne have all had spells on the sidelines.

A flu virus has left City further depleted across the festive period, but Guardiola says selection issues cannot excuse the results.

"Sometimes you have injuries," Guardiola said. "For how many years we were incredibly consistent but now, yes, we're a little bit down and the main reason is having so many important players injured.

"But I saw the team spirit, how we trained this week, how focused they are, how they try to practice.

"We saw that against Everton but unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted."