Gareth Barry admits Manchester City have seen their Premier League title dreams dashed for another year.
The ambitious Blues have every intention of taking the crown sooner rather than later, with an expensively-assembled squad expected to deliver the goods.
It will, however, be 2011/12 at the earliest before the Blues get their hands on the trophy, with their challenge seemingly over this term.
A 1-1 draw in a lacklustre encounter with Fulham on Sunday has left City 10 points adrift of league leaders Manchester United.
They have also played a game more than the Red Devils, forcing England international Barry to concede that the title is now out of reach.
He said: "It was strange. The atmosphere wasn't really there. Everybody seemed to be waiting for everybody else to do something.
"Once we got the goal, I thought it would kick-start us and we would go and get another one.
"But then they scored and we found it difficult to break them down.
"If you are going to challenge for the title, you have to win games like this at home."
Safely wrapping up a top-four finish is the now the priority for City, although productive runs in the FA Cup and Europa League continue to provide a welcome distraction.
Barry added: "The cup competitions have been important to us all season, although fourth spot in the league is our main target."
