Sandler ‘happy’ to make City debut

PHILIPPE Sandler has spoken after he made his debut for City on Sunday.

The 21-year-old replaced Kevin De Bruyne in City’s 7-0 FA Cup win over Rotherham and slotted in as a holding midfielder, with Ilkay Gundogan, who was previously occupying the position, pushing further upfield.

Asked how it felt to make his bow, Sandler said: “Really good, I was really, really happy to come on and, yeah, it felt really good.

“The opponent just got back in two lines and as a holding midfielder you are free most of the time – I liked it.

“This is my first time playing there, so it was good. I like the position, it’s almost the same as a centre-back, especially this game because you are almost free all the time.”

City lack strength in depth in the defensive midfield position and that was evidenced over the festive period when the Blues lost to Crystal Palace and Leicester without the injured Fernandinho.

And Sandler paid tribute to his Brazilian team-mate, saying: “Against Liverpool he was unbelievable, it was amazing to see so it’s good to have these players in the team so I can learn from them and maybe use it in the games.”

Sandler was watched against Rotherham by his brother but he revealed the rest of his family returned home last week.

He added: “My brother was here, I didn’t expect to play because I had an injury last week. The rest of the family went home after new year so they just missed it!”