MANCHESTER -- Pablo Zabaleta says his teammates must deal with the off-field speculation after Manchester City revealed that Pep Guardiola will take charge next season.
City were beaten 3-1 at home by Leicester City on Saturday and now trail the surprise Premier League leaders by six points.
The defeat came six days after current City boss Manuel Pellegrini announced he will leave the club at the end of the season to be replaced by Bayern Munich boss Guardiola.
And with rumours of new signings arriving in the summer and potential departures, Zabaleta says the players cannot afford to be distracted as they challenge for silverware on four fronts.
"We need to deal with it," the Argentina defender told reporters. "The club decided to announce this now after so many rumours and we really understand this. Now it's just time to finish in the best way we can do this season.
"We are all behind Manuel -- he's been great for this football club -- so he'll continue in the way he has done for the last few years. Nothing changes for him.
"And then we'll see at the end of the season with the new manager coming in. We suspect changes but it's normal but now is not the right time to talk about the future because there's a lot of time for this. We just need to be 100 percent focused on the next games."
Zabaleta made just his fourth Premier League start of the season in the defeat to Leicester after twice damaging the same knee ligaments earlier in the season.
The 31-year-old is among a number of players to miss large chunks of the campaign through injury and he admits their busy schedule is testing the squad to the limit.
"It's been a very difficult season in terms of injuries and obviously now it's a period with big games coming up," he said. "So of course you need your whole squad fit, your best players in their best form and the strength of the squad to be ready for the next three months that will be crucial for this team because we are playing in four competitions at the moment.
"In the last 10 days we've played two more games than Leicester and obviously in the way we are playing at the moment it's hard but we need to accept that we are Manchester City, we aspire to win as many trophies as we can and we'll see at the end of the season."
History, at least, is on City side having come from behind to win their two Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014 on the final day of the season.
And that experience could be crucial if they are to pip rivals Leicester, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this May.
Zabaleta added: "There's still a long way to go. In this league you cannot give up so early, we need to keep working hard and just try to be back in our best form to win the games.
"We have the Champions League coming up as well so we need to reach again our best form and obviously you need your best playing their best football."