Pep Guardiola has warned that it is “impossible” to sustain Manchester City’s status at the top of the world game due to the demands of the global fixture schedule.

Guardiola leads his side into Sunday’s Manchester derby on the back of a remarkable run of seven defeats in their last 10 games, including just one win.

And despite having recently agreed a two-year contract extension, the 53-year-old has admitted he does not expect to be immune from the sack if the results continue.

But noting the way his squad has been stretched in recent weeks, Guardiola told Sky Sports: “You can survive for a few games but we’ve been doing it for over a month with players with a lot of minutes in their legs.

“It’s not because they don’t want it – it is because of the calendar, the schedule. We will go to play in the Club World Cup in Orlando next summer and then we have to start the Premier League three weeks later. It’s impossible.

“The Premier League defend their business so I defend mine. My business is my players. My success is my players and I want to protect them.

“These players have done something no other team in this country has done and these players would have done it again were it not for the schedule.”

Despite his trophy-laden spell at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola reiterated that he does not consider himself immune to normal managerial pressures if results continue.

He added: “[The owners] know when the situation is bad and we start to lose games, then it is not sustainable. Then I would not be here next month or in the next two months.

“The results dictate that – and this is the reality. We cannot eternally lose games. Maybe because what we have done in the past [people will think I wouldn’t be sacked] but we are judged daily as managers.”