Pellegrini praises his England marksman
per cent fit and it doesn’t happen so often,’ added the German, who hopes Sturridge may be fit for Thursday’s Europa League tie.
‘We had a bad week with injuries this week and the best news is that it is not serious with Daniel.
‘He had a one-on-one situation with Jordon Ibe and afterwards had pain in the muscle stabilising the knee. Divock did well with the three behind him, then the problem of the game was that we weren’t cool enough.
‘We didn’t use our skills and were a bit hectic, maybe nervous, and didn’t see the right options.
‘We didn’t use these situations but we had our moments with the corner when we hit the post. We could have done better but it’s OK after three days.’ While Klopp discussed his problems, the City boss was able to capitalise on the strength of his squad, with Wilfried Bony scoring twice as he replaced the injured Sergio Aguero and Sterling moved to No10 with David Silva also missing.
Sterling was taken off at half-time against Newcastle in City’s last match but scored three times before the interval yesterday, his second following a fantastic solo run.
‘He didn’t lose confidence after being taken off in the last game. I spoke to him immediately after that game, he didn’t play well,’ said Pellegrini.
‘We changed his position for this game and it was important. We put Kevin De Bruyne in his position on the left and Raheem was nearer Bony, who created space for him and allowed him to score more goals.’ Sterling was delighted. ‘I like to go out with a free mind and play my game,’ he said.
‘I definitely work on my finishing. I get quite a lot of chances and it’s definitely something I will keep working on.’
Bony’s two goals were only slightly less important because of the encouragement it will give him filling in for Sergio Aguero who has a hamstring injury.