Pep praise fires up Fernandinho

FERNANDINHO paid tribute to Pep Guardiola for helping him improve his game after signing a two-year contract extension.

Manchester City manager Guardiola was a defensive midfielder in Barcelona’s 1992 European Cup dream team and has hailed Fernandinho as one of the world’s top three operators in that department.

“I am so glad to hear this kind of comment from him,” said the Brazilian, 32.

“He has worked with a lot of great players, a lot of quality players, intelligent players, so when you hear something like that you know you are doing the right things.

“He knows the position very well. Since he arrived, we have had a lot of conversations about tactics and movement, the way I can control and pass the ball, the way I keep my position, the way I help the team attack, the way I help the team keep the balance between attack and defence. There’s a lot of conversations about that because he knows exactly what is the best thing to do in that position, so I just have to listen to him and try to do my best.”

Guardiola is looking for the right reaction from his team when they face Newcastle, 15th in the table, at the Etihad today following their first Premier League defeat of the season in Sunday’s 4-3 thriller at Liverpool.

But he admits he is in the market for a defender after Fabian Delph joined Benjamin Mendy on the injured list.