Sven-Goran Eriksson will meet with Thaksin Shinawatra, the Manchester City owner, at the weekend but says it has nothing to do with his current position at the club. The Swede stressed that the intended talks are more to do with how they are going to take the club forward rather than his future as manager.

Eriksson is determined to build on the good foundations he has set down in his first season at Eastlands and he wants to attract some big names in the summer - and wants Shinawatra’s thoughts on the matter. "I haven't spoken to Dr Thaksin yet but hopefully I will do during the weekend," he said. "I want to speak to him about the future of the club as it is important."

City have been linked with Ronaldinho and CSKA Moscow's Jo Alves. "In general if we are going to sign players for next season they must be world class players," he said. "We have a very good team but if we want to go one step further we have to take in top class players."

Fulham are the visitors to Eastlands on Saturday and City will hope to chalk up their third straight victory, with a place in Europe still a possibility following their 3-1 defeat of Portsmouth last Sunday. Eriksson reserved special praise for Benjani Mwaruwari's performance against his former club: "He has always worked hard for us. The last game was maybe his best for us. I hope he will continue like that as we still have a chance of a place in Europe. However we need to win our remaining games."

City are facing a defensive crisis as Richard Dunne only has a 50-50 chance of overcoming a hamstring injury sustained at the weekend. With Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha already sidelined, Shaleum Logan has been recalled from Stockport County.