After blazing a trail with their swashbuckling style for the first third of the season, Lescott found it rather amusing that Monday night's Premier League trip to Wigan was being billed as the acid test of City's title credentials.
Never mind that their two successive defeats had come in cup competitions, nor that three reverses in five games also included a last-gasp defeat at Sunderland when they had dominated throughout.
It was also overlooked that a two-month wait for an away win came during a spell that included trips to Liverpool and Chelsea.
City were a club in freefall according to some, which all came as a shock to Lescott and his team-mates.
"It has been funny," said the England defender.
"None of the boys thought we were cracking or something was going wrong. Then suddenly a big thing is made of it in the media.
"It was crazy. We sat there and thought: 'Wow, we must have arrived'.
"People were saying we weren't going to win the league and we are thinking: 'Hold on a minute, we have lost two cup games'.
"I don't think we are doing too badly."
In fact, Monday night's narrow victory was exactly the type of result that has been the bedrock of so many Manchester United championship triumphs down the years.
Once Edin Dzeko had broken his 11-game scoring drought, City never seriously looked as though they would be pegged back, even if their chances of doubling their advantage reduced significantly as the second half wore on.
Indeed, the major talking point from the latter stages was Roberto Mancini's touchline antics, which are evidently taking on a life of their own and which the Italian would be well advised to curb if he is to stop himself ending up in the kind of disciplinary strife he seems so anxious to avoid.
Jose Mourinho has tended to use such behaviour as a diversionary tactic.
However, heading into a weekend in which they face third-placed Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and will finish only half an hour before United tackle Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, City could do with what Mancini likes to refer to as a "quiet" period to get on with their business.
As it happens, Tottenham, through Rafael van der Vaart, were the ones agitating against City last week.
Their shock home draw with Wolves means they go into the game five points adrift though, which leads Lescott to a simple conclusion.
"Tottenham have been talking us up but we haven't mentioned any other team," said the defender.
"We have just concentrated on our own performances and results.
"It is not deliberate to avoid the psychology. It is just something we have to do.
"We know if we win on Sunday it would open up a gap between us and them.
"But no disrespect to Spurs, our main rivals are Manchester United. They are second in the league and our focus should always be on the team immediately behind us.
"As much as the points on Sunday are vital because of the gap to Spurs, they will be more important to pull away from Manchester United."
A mature performance from Stefan Savic has made Mancini and his coaching team more confident in the youngster's ability to repel a Tottenham side that will not contain Emmanuel Adebayor due to the Premier League's rules that prevent loan players facing their parent club.
However, Vincent Kompany and Yaya Toure will still be missing, so Mancini could do with Micah Richards recovering from the hamstring strain that kept him out on Monday night.
Mario Balotelli's availability after an ankle injury would provide a further attacking option, although Lescott is not too bothered if City fail to rediscover their early season form as long as they keep on winning.
"It was nice at the start when everyone was enjoying our performances and the goals we were scoring," he said.
"As soon as you have that dip, people start to criticise.
"Maybe the neutrals want Spurs to win the league and not so much Manchester City or Manchester United.
"Maybe they just want it to be more interesting.
"The main thing is no-one can go through an entire season without having a dip in form.
"But we have the quality to win games and as long as we do that we can be champions."
