Kevin De Bruyne happy with response to 'tough time' for Manchester City after Nottingham Forest win in Premier League

Kevin De Bruyne produced a goal and an assist as Manchester City got back to winning ways against Nottingham Forest. The Belgian inspired a 3-0 victory that ended a four-match losing run for the champions in the league, and said afterwards that it has "not been a nice period for me" after struggling to get back in the team following an injury layoff. "It's been a tough time," he added.

Kevin De Bruyne admitted it has "not been a nice period for me" and a "tough time" for Manchester City after helping the Premier League champions end their winless run.

An inspired De Bruyne set up the first and scored the second goal in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, just a few days after being left out of the side that lost a crucial clash with league leaders Liverpool.

City’s victory ended a four-match losing run that threatened to cause irreparable damage to their title defence, and Belgium international De Bruyne was glad to see the back of it after making his first league start since September.

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"It's not been a nice period for me," De Bruyne told Amazon Prime.

"It's nice to be out there and change the momentum a little bit.

"It's been a tough time, but you have to accept the challenge and I think we did well today."

De Bruyne added that the injury that hampered his start to the season has been "a mystery and a puzzle", while the Belgian also rubbished any rumours of a rift between himself and Pep Guardiola.

"It's been an uncomfortable injury, a mystery and a puzzle," De Bruyne told BBC Sport. "I'm getting better slowly. I was able to play a big amount of minutes and not feel bad.

"There have never been issues between me and Pep. He knows I've been struggling. It's painful and uncomfortable. I want to be back on the pitch.

"I felt good at the start of the season. I'm working hard to get back with my body. Maybe it's going to be an up and down moment from now. Hopefully, I can get back to my body with not much pain, and then I'll be fine."

Liverpool’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle meant that fourth-placed City reduced the gap to The Reds to nine points.

De Bruyne’s influence on the side is underlined by the fact that they are unbeaten in their last 31 Premier League games where he has started, winning 26, and the midfielder said it was his composure that may have helped the team.

"Obviously it's been a difficult spell, and maybe they look towards the older guys to bring a bit of calmness to the game. I was able to do that," he said.

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"I made a couple of mistakes in the first half, but I think Jack [Grealish] did a good job, carrying the ball and controlling a bit. With Bernardo [Silva] you have the same type and [Ilkay] Gundogan. 

"But then you have Jeremy [Doku] who is a little bit more electric, so we had a mix today. I think we did well under the circumstances."

As for the gap to Liverpool, De Bruyne wasn’t getting too far ahead of himself.

"It's not the moment to look at that. It's been a hard period; we have to accept the challenge. The Premier League is getting harder and harder," he said.

"We know that everyone is becoming a tough team to play, and everybody is taking points off everybody. 

"We have to improve as a team first, and we'll see in a couple of months where we are. Hopefully, we would have improved a bit and are a lot closer."

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Video credit: SNTV

Man City manager Guardiola was also full of praise for De Bruyne’s impact in the win over Forest, where Silva and Doku provided the other goals.

"He was excellent, especially in the first half, even in the second half," Guardiola said.

"Really good, the presence and when he's fit, he's a player that is so important for us.

"For many years since he arrived from Germany, he has been an incredible influence on our game."

Next up for Man City is a trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday, before they travel to Turin to face Juventus in the UEFA Champions League next Wednesday, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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