The plucky underdogs were brought down to earth as Manchester City, Everton and Stoke City reached the League Cup semi-finals on Tuesday, ending the hopes of second-tier sides who felled fancied opponents in the last round.
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“Hart could be fit for Saturday”.
“The players in the squad are capable of starting in any game and if the manager puts them out there, I am sure they will do the business”, Sterling said.
“Of course [I want to win trophies], but now it’s time to look at the Premier League games we’ve got coming up”. You have to get rotated at times and that is what happened.
“I was on the bench (against Hull) but when I come on the pitch, I have to try to contribute as much as I can for the team”.
But it tellingly made an appearance in the final quarter when Hull were increasingly stretched and worn out – with the margin of defeat a touch cruel on the visitors, who were backed by a brigade of 5,000 raucous followers.
“I thought we did well to grind out a result and once the second one went in, I thought more would go in and they did”.
Yet it took City only 12 minutes to take the lead, after De Bruyne’s shot had come back off the upright and fallen kindly for Bony, and the buildup to the goal was a reminder of the accident-prone nature that led to Hull’s relegation in May.
Andrew Robertson got a last-minute consolation goal for Hull. He’s someone I work with every day and someone I get on really well with.
And Sterling says the dazzling De Bruyne, 24, has the same class as his former Anfield team-mate as he said: “Yes, most definitely”. He gives us possession of the ball, which is a style of play that we like to play and he connects well with De Bruyne, and our other technical players.
Last year Chelsea won the League Cup on their way to a domestic double, but this year the Blues were eliminated by Stoke City.
“He pops up when it’s most important – that’s what big players do and we’re happy to have him at this football club”. I feel like I’m doing well.
“The most important thing was to qualify for the semi-final but after that it was important for David to have 80 minutes after a long injury”, said the Chilean.
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Silva’s injury meant that new recruit Kevin De Bruyne shouldered the creative responsibilities for the team, with the Belgian often being deployed by Pellegrini in Silva’s favoured no. 10 role. “That’s great for us to have, every team needs a player like that”.
