Belief isn't something that comes naturally to Manchester City fans. After being beaten down for years by regular embarrassments, they've been burned one too many times to fall into the trap of feeling confident. They won't think their team will do the expected, all too wary of the unexpected creeping up and pinching them on the bottom.
Every club has their misfortunes, of course, but it seems to be only City that can tell tales of being knocked out of the FA Cup by a balloon (2-1 at Sheffield United in 2007), suffering relegation after wasting time thinking the result was good enough (a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Maine Road in 1996), or scoring one of the greatest own goals of all time to help their relegation to the third tier for the first time in their history (courtesy of Jamie Pollock in a 2-2 draw with QPR in 1998).