Roberto Mancini knows that his Manchester City team are favourites to lift the Barclays Premier League title after the 2-0 victory at Newcastle.
City will head into their final game of the campaign at home to relegation-haunted QPR sitting at the top of the table and knowing victory will deliver the prize they have craved for the last 44 years.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted in the wake of the win on Tyneside that his club's arch-rivals might have both hands on the trophy, and while Mancini is refusing to look any further ahead that next weekend's game, he knows their destiny remains in their own hands.
Asked if City are now favourites, the Italian said: "Maybe, maybe yes because it depends on us.
"If we beat QPR, we will be the champions. But at this moment, we can't think about this. We need to prepare very well for the next game, only this.
"I am excited because we are on the top, but it's not enough. One week more and if we play like we did today, we have a lot of chance to win."
Victory over Newcastle, whose own hopes of Champions League qualification were dealt a blow despite rivals Arsenal and Tottenham only drawing this weekend, will pitch Mancini into battle with Mark Hughes, his immediate predecessor at the Etihad Stadium, with the league title at stake.
It was achieved courtesy of a double from Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure as a tense encounter came to a dramatic conclusion.
City enjoyed the better of the possession throughout a an enthralling contest, but a combination of good goalkeeping by Tim Krul and stubborn defence from the men ahead of him managed to keep them at bay.
But it was Mancini's decision to replace Samir Nasri with holding midfielder Nigel de Jong with 28 minutes remaining which ultimately swung the game.
The Dutchman's arrival allowed Toure to push further up the field, and he needed just eight minutes to make his presence tell when he thumped a swerving low effort past Krul and into the bottom corner.
With Newcastle having to throw caution to the wind in a bid to find an equaliser, they became increasingly porous at the back and both Sergio Aguero and Toure failed to take glorious opportunities.
However, with just a minute remaining, Toure turned Gael Clichy's pass past Krul from close range to seal a precious win.
Mancini said: "Yaya is an important player for us because he has experience. He won with Barca, he won trophies and he brought to us this experience for this reason.
"Yaya is a fantastic player, but I don't think you can win here because Yaya played well. We won here against Newcastle because all the team played really well and we deserved to win."
Toure has warned of some hard work ahead in the title race.
"It's not finished," he told Sky Sports 1.
"We have one game left and we have to be careful as QPR are fighting to stay in the Premier League.
"We have to continue to work hard and believe.
"The manager told me to deliver today because it was an important game.
"Newcastle are a physical and strong team, but we need to keep improving. This is brilliant for us, though."
