It is a reminder of how bad things became in the final months of Stuart Pearce’s tenure as Manchester City manager that Sven-Göran Eriksson inherited a team who have not scored at home in the Barclays Premier League since New Year’s Day.

Eriksson seemed taken aback by that fact yesterday, but having spent £27 million bolstering City’s attacking options this summer, it hardly came as a surprise to hear the Swede express confidence that the team would give supporters something to cheer about sooner rather than later.

Almost 12½ hours of football have passed since Georgios Samaras scored from the penalty spot in a 2-1 victory over Everton, but as he prepares for his first competitive game at the City of Manchester Stadium against Derby County this evening, such has been the tide of optimism generated by the opening-day victory away to West Ham United that Eriksson could afford to joke about the goal drought.

“Let’s hope that we score before Christmas,” Eriksson said. “Whether you’re a fan, player or manager, [12½ hours] without scoring is too long, but that’s history. There’s no guarantee that you will score in every game. Look at [Manchester] United [against Reading] on Sunday, they played against one goalie for 90 minutes and the ball didn’t want to go in, but we will score goals. The team that we have should, on paper, score and I’m sure we will.” Eriksson insists that he is still the same old Sven – “I am what I am. I have no intention of trying to be anything else,” he said – but it is possible to detect a slight change in personality from the man who was criticised during his time as the England head coach for being too bland and predictable.

He has already shown a willingness to depart from his trusted 4-4-2 formation, with excellent results against West Ham, and generally appears more animated.

“You can try more things as a club manager than if you are a manager of a national team because here I have the players more or less every day,” he said. “In the other job it’s very seldom that you have them.”

Joe Hart could replace Kasper Schmeichel in goal tonight, but Eriksson, who still wants to bring in three more players, is confident of signing another goalkeeper before the derby at home to Manchester United on Sunday. Marco Amelia, of Livorno and Italy, is top of his list.

Eriksson is also hopeful of reviving a deal for Mark Bresciano, the 27-year-old Palermo and Australia midfield player, who is valued at £4 million by the Italian club.