Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne: 'Manchester City players feeling the strain'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 05 February 2018

Kevin De Bruyne admits that he and his Manchester City teammates "feel rubbish" due to their gruelling schedule across the opening six months of the season.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has confessed that he and his teammates are beginning to feel the strain of competing for silverware on four fronts this season.

The Citizens are well clear at the top of the Premier League and also remain in contention in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League.

City's players have now been given four days off to recover ahead of a gruelling set of fixtures, with their top-flight campaign stuttering just a little after failing to win any of their last three away games.

De Bruyne, who played a full part in the 1-1 draw against Burnley at the weekend, admits that the rest period has come at the perfect time.

"I was feeling it from the first minute," he told reporters after the game at Turf Moor. "I've said it before - you feel great for 10 games, OK for 10 games, and then the rest you feel rubbish.

"You know, we've got to do what we've got to do. We've only got 15 or 16 players available at the moment so we need to get through it. It will do us a lot of good. I'm going away, it doesn't matter where!"

City boss Pep Guardiola was criticised ahead of his side's last outing for naming just six subs on the bench, having seen his squad depleted by injuries.