HAVING THE backing of wealthy Arab investors is proving to be a double-edged sword for Manchester City manager Mark Hughes with the club's spending power increasing the scrutiny and envy.

"There are a lot of people out there looking for us to fail," Hughes said.

The ammunition has been provided by his players on the pitch and with talk of a split dressing room.

A 2-1 loss at bottom-placed West Bromwich Albion last weekend capped a dismal Premier League run that yielded just one win in nine matches and threw Hughes' future into doubt ahead of the January transfer window.

Even with US$50 million-striker Robinho in the armory, the club, which the Abu Dhabi United Group bought in September to catapult into football's financial upper echelons, found itself in the relegation zone.

One point above trap door

And despite thrashing Hull 5-1 on Friday to lift the gloom at Eastlands, City remain just one point above the trap door to the League Championship going into today's match at Blackburn.

"We have struggled of late. We are a big story this year, obviously, with the new owners and the fact we haven't performed on a consistent basis," Hughes said. "As a consequence, maybe the expectation and focus that has been on us this year has certainly been greater than in previous years, and we haven't dealt with that particularly well.

"Now, we have to come to terms with that focus and the level of expectation that is on every game we play, deal with it and cope with it."

While Robinho's double against Hull took his tally to 11 since joining in September, more encouraging is that forward Felipe Caicedo matched that with his first league goals. They came a week after the 20-year-old Ecuador international opened his City account in the UEFA Cup 11 months after joining from FC Basel.

Stephen Ireland set up both of Caicedo's goals, and the once-wayward midfielder showed why he could be key to any surge up the standings by orchestrating Hull's demolition with an inspirational performance while grabbing the fifth.

"He has been fantastic all year," Hughes said of Ireland. "He had a real impact with his creative play and ability to pick the right man and obviously scored as well - the complete midfield performance."

City can quickly show that trouncing Hull wasn't an isolated show of strength - as September's 6-0 demolition of Portsmouth turned out to be - when Hughes returns to Blackburn for the first time since vacating the managerial hot seat in the offseason.

"It is a quick turnaround but we're looking forward to it," Hughes said of the congested Christmas fixture list. "On the back of that we are in good heart. We have got to back it up with another good performance."