Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has described Yaya Toure as "a very important player" for his side.

The Ivorian midfielder scored a hat-trick in the Citizens' 5-0 home win against Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.

"He's a very important player and scoring 20 goals for a midfielder is not easy," BBC Sport quotes the Chilean as saying.

"At the beginning of the season, Toure received some criticism for not defending well, but it's easy to tell him to stay back and not give him freedom."

City are currently third in the league table with 63 points from 28 matches, six points behind leaders Chelsea with three games in hand.