Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has praised his side s fantastic performances throughout December.
City have won six of their seven Premier League fixtures this month, dropping points only in a 1-1 draw at Southampton on December 7.
That form has seen the 2011-12 champions move into second place, just one point behind table-toppers Arsenal ahead of their trip to Swansea City on New Year s Day.
And Pellegrini is thrilled with the effort shown by his players during English football s busiest period, urging them to kick on in the second half of the season to reclaim the title from rivals Manchester United.
I think it (December) was a fantastic month for us, we played 10 games and won nine, and in the Premier League we won six, the Chilean said.
It was very important for us to recover points with Arsenal, and very important to finish the year in the position we wanted to be. To recover six points in a month is not a bad thing.
Now, in the second half we try to win it.
Pellegrini also confirmed that Joe Hart will play on Wednesday after suffering a cut to his eye during Saturday s win over Crystal Palace, but Martin Demichelis, Sergio Aguero, Micah Richards and Stevan Jovetic remain sidelined.
