Stephen Ireland is hoping to become a
Manchester City stalwart, and have a stand named after
him.
The Irish midfielder broke into the first-team set-up with the
Blues in 2005 and has been a regular fixture in the side ever
since.
The 2008/09 campaign has arguably been his most successful yet,
as he only narrowly missed out to Ashley Young in the voting for
PFA Young Player of the Year.
He admits that he is enjoying his time at Eastlands and has
ambitions of becoming a City legend in the future.
With Mark Hughes' men set to face arch rivals Manchester United
on Sunday, Ireland has revealed that he is hoping to emulate the
achievements of Red Devils heroes Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
"I would like to achieve at City what Paul Scholes and Ryan
Giggs have done at United. They have been fantastic servants to the
club and won cupboards full of medals," he said in the
Manchester Evening News.
"I would love to think that at 33 or 34 years of age I would
still be playing for City in midfield, still loving the game,
enjoying a bond with the fans and winning things.
"Those two United players are legends at Old
Trafford and that is a path I want to follow and what I want to be
at Eastlands, in fact one of my aims is to play so well for so long
here I have a stand named after me!
"I want to stay at City as long as possible and knock United off
their pedestal, achieving things with these players, these fans and
Mark Hughes, who gets a bad time in the press sometimes which is
undeserved. I want to win games for him, too, and do his methods
justice."
Ireland believes City are closing the gap on United, with the
Abu Dhabi United Group helping to bankroll the club's pursuit of
success.
"The gap between the clubs is narrowing, we are signing world
class players and the future here is going to be very interesting,"
he said.
"United are still the target to aim at, they have things right
there, and we are on the way to matching them in all aspects.
"We go to Old Trafford (on Sunday) full of confidence and we
will be better than we were in the first derby at our place earlier
in the season (during a 1-0 defeat).
"I think we go there with a better squad than we had before
Christmas and with plenty of players in form. Everyone is hungry to
get into the side and the manager has some decisions to make and
that is good for the club."