James Milner has said that it is "pointless" to speculate what effect Carlos Tevez being available all season would have had on Manchester City's title chances.
The striker has netted four times in two starts since returning from a self-imposed four-month exile in his native Argentina.
His immediate impact led to talk about what might have been if he had not fallen out with boss Roberto Mancini.
"It's pointless going there really because that's been and gone," said Milner.
"Carlos is playing for Manchester City and playing well. He got a great hat-trick and Sergio Aguero was fantastic. There were a number of great performances at the weekend so it's pointless thinking about what might have been.
"We're lucky to have a player like Carlos Tevez playing the way he is and hopefully we get a few more hat-tricks out of him between now and the end of the season."
Tevez scored a hat-trick as City moved to within two points of rivals Manchester United with a 6-1 win over Norwich City.
