Yaya Toure believes criticism of him during his goal drought was unfair -- because he is a midfielder, not a striker.
Toure scored for the first time in the Premier League this season as Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-0 on Saturday.
And the 31-year-old believes the expectations on him have become unrealistic after he scored 20 league goals last season, becoming only the second central midfielder in the division's history to reach that landmark.
"Sometimes people forget I'm a midfielder and that my job is not to score all the goals," he told reporters. "My job is to try to keep the team playing well, make a good pass, and if I am fortunate enough to score, that is fantastic.
"Last year was quite open for me. I played in a good position and I was quite lucky -- I was getting free kicks and penalties.
"Now the criticism has started coming because I am not scoring. For me, not scoring is pretty normal because I play in midfield.
"But I have experience. I have been playing for big sides in Europe for a long time. I know there is criticism but, for me, it doesn't matter. If they want they can continue, it doesn't matter. For me, the most important thing at the end of the day is if we win the Premier League or something else.
"The most important thing for me is to try and help the team. People shouldn't forget that my first job is to try and control the team, try to balance the team. My job is not to score the goals."
Manager Manuel Pellegrini added: "I have always said we cannot say Yaya was responsible when the team was not playing well, and I cannot say also that Yaya was the only player we had [on Saturday]. That was our best performance as a team and in that team Yaya played very well."
Toure has scored 53 goals for City in just over four years since joining from Barcelona.