MANCHESTER: Although Kevin De Bruyne's return to Manchester City's starting lineup was key to a 3-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday that ended their winless run, manager Pep Guardiola warned that he needs to look after his midfielder.
The oft-injured Belgian was brilliant in scoring one goal, helping set up another, and taking or creating most of City's shots in his first start in more than two months, guiding City to their first victory since late October.
"We'll see how he recovers after a long time injured," Guardiola told reporters. "The reality is he played few games last season and this season."
The gruelling December schedule compounds the concern, with City heading to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
"Three days, three days - we'll see how does (De Bruyne) feel through this," Guardiola said.
City's win lifted the champions to fourth in the league table, still nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
It also ended the worst string of results in Guardiola's glittering managerial career – seven consecutive games without a win, including six defeats.
"We needed it," said Guardiola. "The club and the players, everyone needed to win. After what happened in the past we were not relaxed until the referee's whistle at the end."
The victory might have come at a cost, however, as defender Nathan Ake was forced off late in the game holding his hamstring, an injury that saw him sidelined for five weeks earlier this season.
"Nathan doesn't look good. We will see tomorrow," Guardiola said. "He could not continue and we will see in three days what will happen. I am sad for Nathan."
An injury also kept Manuel Akanji out for the second half, although the manager said his is not as serious.
"We'd love to have Manu and Nathan and two defensive midfielders. They are fantastic human beings and fantastic players," Guardiola said.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said City were definitely more dangerous with De Bruyne on the pitch.
"It's very difficult (to stop De Bruyne), very difficult because of the quality," he said, "And it's not only Kevin de Bruyne, their quality all over the pitch, in the wide areas, it's very difficult to individually control these kind of players.
"No one ever doubts the quality of City players and their manager, so we know that we had a hard task ahead of us. But honestly, we went for it. We lose, okay, that can happen in football, but we challenged ourselves and that can reflect on the next games I hope." - Reuters