Manchester City must not change its approach when it hosts Southampton on Monday (AEDT) despite a run of four games without a win in all competitions, says Ilkay Gundogan.

City started Pep Guardiola's tenure at the club with 10 successive victories and appeared on course to dominate domestically and on the European stage.

A 3-3 draw with Celtic on 29 September (AEDT) ended that run, however, and City has not tasted victory since.

Defeats to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League have followed either side of a 1-1 stalemate with Everton last weekend, a game that saw City miss two penalties.

Its stuttering form does not worry Gundogan and he insists they will continue to play Guardiola's possession-based style going forward.

"I think we just have to keep playing how we're playing," he said.

"We have so much quality in our squad and great players. If we keep playing how we started in the first weeks of the season then I'm quite sure we can be really happy at the end of the season and also really successful. 

"I don't know in which competitions or exactly how but I'm sure we will be. We should just try to focus on the things we did in the past and we want to improve for the future. 

"That is the big challenge for us and if we can handle that we will be very happy at the end of the season."

Gundogan may be new to English football but he knows all about the threat posed by Southampton, and expects another tough test.

"I've been very impressed with the way that Southampton have started the season," he added.

"I've also been impressed with how they have played over the last few years. A lot of big teams struggle against them. I think City in the last season had some quite tough games against them. 

"They are a really good team and have had a good start to the season. It will be anything but an easy game for us but we play at home and just want to play the football we played against Everton. 

"If we do that then we will be happy again."