Rooney has been tipped to sweep the board for the player-of-the-year awards at the end of the campaign for carrying Manchester United towards the Barclays Premier League title, while Tevez has weighed in with 22 goals so far to put City in the frame for a Champions League place.

The Argentina striker, 26, grabbed the crucial goal against Fulham at the weekend which means City will be back in the top four if they defeat Everton on Wednesday.

"Carlos is definitely one of the in-form strikers," said Garrido, who was a last-minute replacement for Joleon Lescott at Craven Cottage after the England defender suffered a hamstring injury.

"When he plays, the team has confidence because he is a player that gives his best, works hard and scores goals for us. He is a key player, a main player for us.

"We know how well Wayne Rooney has done but for us, for Man City, maybe Carlos Tevez is like Wayne Rooney is for United. He works hard and gives us a lot, and the team feels that."

Lescott is now expected to miss the Everton clash at Eastlands, so Garrido is relishing the chance the grab a rare opportunity after struggling for regular football.

"Joleon felt something in his hamstring and I am always ready to go in," said the Spaniard.

"That was a bit of a weird situation but in the end I played and I'm very happy. You have to come in and do your job.

"I haven't been playing for a few weeks, obviously I want to play week in, week out but I have to understand the manager's decision and when he calls me I have to be ready.

"I have to work every day and every week to improve myself and after that it is the club's decision. I have always said that I am happy here but you never know. I would like to play every week, I can tell you that, but I also have to understand the quality of the team is high."

With no knockout competitions to distract them, City are fully focused on finishing fourth in the Premier League.

Garrido said: "We are thinking about it. Why not? We are in the right position and right situation. We beat Fulham, a team that tries to play good football, so we have to keep going.

"We are in a good position. These are the last games and we have to do well, we have to be strong and it is in our hands to get the fourth position.

"Our challenge is to be in the top four. The club have invested money into making us a big, big club, there are a lot of good players here and a bigger squad, so our challenge is to be in the top four."