Ball: City still on derby high February 25 2008
Michael Ball is confident Manchester City can knock his former club Everton out of their stride on Monday night.
The Toffees are at the forefront of the Premier League's chasing pack in the race for European qualifying spots and their mood has been enhanced by progress to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.
But City, also chasing Europe, are on a high themselves after a stunning derby success at Manchester United, and Ball believes they can approach the rest of the season with confidence.
The Blues defender said: "I think Everton have been doing really well. A couple of years back they finished in the top four and they will want to do that again.
"It is up to us on tonight to put one over them and if we can go out and play the way we can do we can take the three points.
"They have got a lot of good players but we are worrying about ourselves and our performance. They have got to come to us and try to stop our players."
The Eastlands outfit have not played since their famous win over United, their first at Old Trafford since 1974, a fortnight ago.
Ball believes the break, and the afterglow of the derby, have energised City and will see them hit the ground running on Monday night.
He said: "For 24 hours after that game there was just a buzz and training was fun. We then had a break and when we came back everyone was ready and up for it.
"It has been good to have the break. Obviously we didn't want it because we wanted to have a good cup run, but we have had the chance to go away and recharge our batteries.
"We have had a good week of training leading up to this game and we are feeling refreshed and ready to go."
Ball began his career at Goodison Park before moving on to Rangers in 2001 and then PSV Eindhoven. He returned to England with City a year ago.
The 28-year-old admits beating the Merseysiders would mean a lot to him.
"Yes, especially after a couple of weeks ago when we weren't on top of our form," Ball said, referring to City's 1-0 loss at Goodison Park last month.
"We have done well so far but we know we have got more in us. We thought we could come away with the three points but we have got a chance to take them to our place.
"The pitch is a bit bigger and we can play them the way we want to play them and hopefully come away with the points."