We are preparing to face, in my opinion, the best team in the country on Sunday.

But our performance against Tottenham Hotspur before the international break generated belief and we can gain momentum with a positive result at Manchester City.

We were frustrated not to turn one point into three against Spurs – we showed a different attitude and with a break of the ball or different refereeing decision could have won – but the most important thing was to draw a line under a difficult spell.

Every team has ups and downs across a season. To achieve the goals we’ve outlined it is vital to prevent the downs dragging on too long.

The atmosphere inside Goodison for the Spurs match was fantastic. I love playing in our stadium, especially when there is the feeling of every single Evertonian being completely with us. It gives you energy you didn't know you had.

We’d had some bad results but you would never have known from the way the fans wanted to get behind the team. We’ve spoken as a group since Tottenham about the noise in the ground. Every player is grateful for the backing we receive home and away and wants to repay that incredible support.

The fact we are still missing some influential players makes going to Manchester City even more complicated.

I have seen Dominic Calvert-Lewin grow into a top-level centre-forward in my time at the Club. He is a guy with a lot of self-belief and completely committed to improving every aspect of his game.

Any side would miss a striker of Dominic's quality. The same with Yerry Mina and Abdoulaye Doucoure, two big personalities in the middle of our team.

But, I completely agree with the manager, we have to find ways of winning matches without those players. We have shown in some games that it is possible and, even though the squad is small, there is enough quality to manage this situation.

Rafa Benitez has been great for me. I am playing in a more central position and I like the responsibility of scoring and creating goals.

When you appoint a manager with Rafa’s track record it shows the ambition of a club. I think he can be important for my career and improve me as a player.

With his experiences at other big clubs and winning mentality and quality and detail on the training ground, he has everything required to make our season go well.

I am recovering my best condition and felt quite good in the two matches I started this month but I stayed at Everton during the international break because it was vital to focus on reaching full fitness.

I wanted to play against Colombia and Argentina, of course I did, playing for Brazil is an honour, I feel the same passion for my national team today as I did when I dreamt about wearing the colours as a little boy.

But I must be patient and my priority is obtaining peak condition and making significant contributions for Everton.

I cheered on Brazil as a fan and was so pleased we confirmed qualification for the World Cup. We were in a very strong position but you can never take these things for granted.

In every tournament we are among the favourites and our target is to become world champions next year.

For me to be part of that mission I have to keep improving and showing my talent and commitment on the pitch.

In the immediate future, that means giving my all to help us achieve the result we want this weekend.

Manchester City are such a fluid, attacking team, with a solid defensive base. They have won three of the past four Premier League titles and were Champions League finalists in May.

We know what we are up against, then, but we also know what we have in our dressing room. The idea is to have the same mentality as against Spurs, to stand up for ourselves and impose our rhythm on the game.

We are entering a busy period with lots of tough games. Let’s unite as fans and players and staff for a big push up the table.