Fulham midfielder Zoltan Gera believes Manchester City have the potential to become one of Europe's most established sides within the next few years.

City are traditionally seen as the second team in Manchester given the recent success of United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who has won 11 Premier League titles at Old Trafford since his appointment 23 years ago.

City's chances of success were boosted last year when billionaire Sheikh Mansour bought the club and Mark Hughes has used the money at his disposal to bankroll a huge spending spree which rivals that which Chelsea undertook soon after they had been taken over by Roman Abramovich in July 2003.

Chelsea have won two Premier League titles since the Russian's arrival and have also gone on to establish themselves in Europe by reaching at least the semi-finals in five of the last six years.

Gera thinks that, like Chelsea, City will too become a dominant force within European football in the next few years.

"Six years ago Chelsea were just a team that never won anything but then they spent a lot of money and brought in (Jose) Mourinho," he said.

"After a few years they became a big team and I think that Manchester City can do exactly the same as they have done."

City's impressive early form has enabled them to climb to fifth after registering five wins, including one over Arsenal.

Some have tipped them to win the league, but Gera insists they still need time to gel.

"For me Manchester City is a team like Liverpool and Arsenal now," the Hungary midfielder said.

"Now the league has a top five and not top four.

"For me it is not this season that they will challenge for the title, but maybe next.

"They signed seven or eight players so they need time to gel but I think they have still started very well this season."

Gera will travel to Eastlands among a Fulham squad buoyed by Thursday night's draw with Roma and Monday's win over Hull - their first in four.

The Cottagers came within seconds of completing a memorable win over Roma on Thursday only to concede an equaliser in the 93rd minute.

They were unlucky to come away with nothing from their match with Arsenal last month and also took a full-strength City side to extra-time in the Carling Cup earlier this year.

Gera believes manager Roy Hodgson has instilled a sense of belief and determination in the side which makes it hard for big teams to break them down.

"I think the big teams don't like to play against us because we are a very organised team and we work very hard every minute for every ball," the 30-year-old added.

"I think we have a good manager and you can see from our games how organised we are so it's difficult to beat us."

"We have a very good defence. (Paul) Konchesky and (John) Pantsil are great and we have a top keeper in Mark Schwarzer.

"It's not just the defenders either, it's the whole team who work hard."

Hodgson has several injury concerns ahead of the match, including captain Danny Murphy and striker Andrew Johnson, who are both struggling to overcome shoulder injuries.