• Kompany: ‘We must make sure everything we have we leave on the pitch’ • City captain: ‘It’s better to be chasing than chased in some ways’

Vincent Kompany has warned rivals it is now the “hunting season” as Manchester City challenge for the Premier League and Champions League titles.

City defeated Liverpool in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday to claim the first trophy of the campaign. Manuel Pellegrini’s team face Jürgen Klopp’s side again on Wednesday at Anfield.

Kompany feels the closing phase of the season allows City to play with the shackles released. “What we’ve learned in our recent history is that moment likes this you just have to get your head down and start racing as much as you can,” the captain said.

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“It’s what we call the hunting season now so we’re not going to look back or do anything other than focus on the opponents that we have to play. We just have to make sure that everything we have we leave on the pitch. There’s no other way to approach this any more. You can’t come with mathematics or anything like this.

“We just have to race to the end and see how many of the 36 points we still have to play for we can bag and we’ll be close if we have a lot of them. It’s an awkward time of the year – it’s almost as if we have nothing to lose any more. We still have a lot to play for but nothing to lose any more. It’s like all the gates come off. That’s how it felt with the performance in [the 3-1 win over Dynamo] Kyiv and against Liverpool at the weekend and that’s the feeling we have the recreate for Wednesday.

“Just take all the gates off and go for it. It’s a little bit less calculated and probably more entertainment value for people watching but it’s the only way for us to get there now because we’re in a trailing position. It’s a weird feeling but it’s hunting season so it’s better to be chasing than be chased in some ways.

“The whole organisation, everyone at the club, has to have the knife between the teeth and know that everyone needs to be as sharp and focused as ever. It’s not just the players but the way we all behave. We can get to something special.”

Kompany has made three appearances after returning from his latest serious calf injury. He dismissed any notion this was career threatening. “It’s life and I never look at a situation where I’ve had injuries and look at it as something I can’t overcome,” he said.

“I look at it as a challenge and I put in the work. I always think to myself: ‘It’s not the first time someone has said I’m finished because of an injury.’ There’s nothing more exciting than to show people that I’m there again and if anything I’m better. It’s a drive for me.”