The City boss had seen his side lose 1-0 at Liverpool to Fernando Torres' 32nd goal of the season on an afternoon dominated by his own future.

City's fans gave plenty of backing to the former England coach, with banners and songs which drowned out the Kop in this Barclays Premier League clash.

It is believed that Eriksson has been told by owner Thaksin Shinawatra that he is likely to be axed, despite massive shows of support from the club's former directors and owners who have been trying to persuade the former Thai prime minister to change his mind.

And afterwards Eriksson said: "The support for me was fantastic, of course it is.

"It makes me stand up from the bench a lot but I can do that, no problem.

"It was fantastic, of course I am thankful. They have been fantastic all season, incredible.

"Maybe it will not affect things, I don't know. But we have one week to go until the season is finished.

"But I would appreciate it if people would accept that we will start talking after that.

"We will not be talking tomorrow, more so next month."

Eriksson's reaction to remarks from his agent Athole Still that he would not be in charge at City next season, was: "He said that? They should work and not talk.

"I heard he had said something, but he has not spoken to me at all."

However, Eriksson believes he will be taking the squad on a summer tour to Thailand, saying: "I suppose we will be going to Thailand, it is a tour and part of the programme, I don't think it has been changed.

"It will be a combination of playing football and a holiday, which can't be bad. The weather is better than here."

But Eriksson was soon showing his gratitude to the club's fans, saying: "They are wonderful, especially when you see all the support and we haven't won anything. We are going in the right way. The side is improving.

"I expect to know what will happen after the last match. If you speak clearly to people, the situation will come out. If you do not speak clearly, it will not. We can wait a week. That is not a long time.

"I think we have done a good job. Before the season started we did not really know what would happen, and how the new players would react to the Premier League.

"We started well and we were high in the table and the dream of all of us was about Europe. Now that is finished.

"But to finish were we are is good. We are a very young team, a lot of young players, and they will be better next season.

"It is a good start. And if you compare where the club was a year ago you can surely see the improvement.

"The reason I accepted Manchester City was the project. It was a big club, but it was not doing too well. It is fantastic to build up something new, something better.

"We speak about the future. This club will have one, so will I have one.

"If you talk about targets, we cannot be worse than ninth. And if a small miracle happens next weekend we could be eighth.

"It is good. It would have been better to qualify for Europe, I agree, but next season that could happen."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez also acknowledged the amazing backing for Eriksson from City's fans, saying: "They were good, very good."

On Liverpool's seventh successive home league win and Torres' contribution, he said: "It was another good game from us, another fine goal from Fernando.

"I believe he will score more, which will be a great benefit for the club, for him and for the fans.

"We have not got a Champions League final to look forward to, we can't change that now. But we were able to win our last home game and give the fans something to be pleased about."