Kevin De Bruyne admits he’s “nowhere near” his greatest but after the Manchester City midfielder made his return from a five-month damage absence. De Bruyne got here off the bench within the second half of City’s 5-0 win towards Huddersfield within the FA Cup third spherical on Sunday. Playing for the primary time because the opening day of the Premier League season towards Burnley in August, the Belgium star was given the final 33 minutes and was shortly again within the outdated routine as he arrange City’s fifth objective for Jeremy Doku. De Bruyne had hamstring surgical procedure after aggravating an issue that had affected him within the latter phases of final season’s treble-winning marketing campaign. Although he’s again to health, De Bruyne mentioned he wants time to rise up to full pace. “I worked hard and I’m happy to be back. I felt good so I’m pleased about that but I’m still nowhere near where I need to be,” he mentioned.

“It’s a good continuation of the process of the last few weeks. I feel good, the movements were good, I felt comfortable in what I was doing and that was the only thing I was really looking for.

“To get that ovation after being away for 5 months offers you extra of a lift. There might be moments I wish to play each recreation however I do know behind my thoughts I have to handle myself.

“It’s good being January where we have fewer games. I don’t expect to be playing too many games and Newcastle next week is a big game so I’ll expect to be back on the bench.”

De Bruyne was greeted like a returning hero by City followers on the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

In his absence, City have been wanting their greatest for a lot of the marketing campaign.

With De Bruyne again within the fold, they are going to be anticipated to step up their bid for an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title, in addition to difficult to retain the Champions League and FA Cup.

While the damage was a blow for De Bruyne, he believes the revitalising relaxation could also be a long-term enhance given his heavy schedule for membership and nation in recent times.

“To be honest I enjoyed it in a way. At the beginning it was a big blow but I knew I was going to be out for four or five months,” he mentioned.

“So after the first reaction I thought to myself I needed to work hard when I’m working, but then I could enjoy the things that I’ve not been able to do with my family and friends.

“Maybe it was good to refresh a bit bit. It’s not like I wanted a break however I took it, to show a drawback into a bonus.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)