Bernardo Silva relishing return of top stars

Kevin De Bruyne and Benjamin Mendy have missed large chunks of the campaign through injury, while David Silva, Fernandinho, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan have had spells out recently. But the Premier League champions are now getting close to full strength, with Mendy the only key player sidelined with a serious injury, and there are hopes he could be back in action before the end of the month.

City illustrated the depth of their squad as they named De Bruyne, Aguero and Riyad Mahrez on the bench for Monday's clash with Wolves and still eased to a 3-0 win. "It feels like we have all the squad, which is important because we need all of them," said playmaker Silva. "It is good finally to be back together. Of course until this moment of the season we have had so many injured players, we never played with the whole squad. To have almost the whole squad available is fantastic for us and it is very good to try and go for all the competitions."

Silva, 24, has no issue with the fact that means increased competition for his own place. "That is what happens when you play in one of the best teams in the world," he said. "You have fantastic players in your position, you have to work hard to try and play as many minutes as you can. That is a good thing. It means you have a good squad. Everyone pushes the other teammates so you have to work harder to get in the team."

City remain firmly in the title race after Monday's victory cut Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League back to four points. They are also still competing in both domestic cups and the Champions League. Their involvement in all those competitions could ultimately amount to playing a considerable number of games more than Liverpool but Silva is confident that would not hamper their title defence.

He said: "Honestly, I don't think so. I think it is a good sign for us that we are still in all the competitions, that is what we try to do and big teams try to do. We will keep going that way, we have a good squad. We will try to make things work, knowing that it is not easy but when you play in a club like Man City, season after season, you get used to playing lots of games at a high level."