Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca has delivered the line you would expect from any dressing room trying to survive a storm, keep your head down, train properly and win the next match. The context matters here. City are back in Premier League action against Liverpool at Anfield, with the club still dealing with the fallout after being found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them.

The allegations were serious, the findings were worse, and the timing has left City trying to separate football from everything around it. The Premier League report stated the club had used “sham” contracts to disguise secret funding of more than £830m. That is the backdrop. Maresca’s job right now is simpler to describe, far harder to carry out. He has to make sure his players do not drift.

According to Maresca, they have not. “The feeling is fantastic, to be honest,” he said ahead of the trip to Anfield. It is a strong message and one clearly designed for both inside and outside the club. He added: “The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that.”

That is the standard football response, control what you can control, park the noise, get on with it. It also happens to be the only viable one. The squad had several international players returning to training only on Thursday, nine days after the verdict was published, so Maresca had a narrow window to address the issue directly. Internally, the message was straightforward, do not let the crisis damage standards or concentration.

Maresca was equally clear on where he believes the players stand emotionally. “They know what we can control is the football side, they are not worried at all about different things. They know their profession and they know that the noise is there, but they don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield.”

That sounds good. It always does. Whether it holds through 90 minutes at Anfield is another matter. Liverpool away is difficult in clean circumstances. Liverpool away with the club under the harshest scrutiny in English football is something else. Maresca, though, is sticking to the line that the mood remains stable. He said he feels “calm” and that the squad trusts the club “completely”.

City have launched an appeal and continue to maintain their innocence publicly. That position has not changed, nor has the message passed privately around the playing group and those connected to it.

Erling Haaland echoed his manager’s position and did so in the language of solidarity rather than legal argument. “I care a lot about this place. I spent my first four years here, it’s a special place for us. I care a lot about City and the fans. I am a fan myself. I feel with them.”