Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has said his five-month break from football due to injury may end up being a blessing in disguise for both himself and his club.
De Bruyne made his return from hamstring surgery in the 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Sunday having not featured for Pep Guardiola's side since August.
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The 32-year-old, who recorded an assist for Jérémy Doku just 17 minutes after coming on, said he feels refreshed following his spell on the sidelines and is ready to help City challenge for trophies in the second half of the season
"It's not like I needed a break but I took it, to turn a disadvantage into an advantage," De Bruyne said.
"When I reflect on my career, playing the last 10 years non-stop with a short break, maybe it was good for me to reset a little bit in a way and take care of myself when it is not really possible during the year.
"I hoped I could work hard and come back in a good way and I feel that I'm doing that but obviously I need to progress."
De Bruyne missed 27 games before returning to the squad for the 2-0 win over Sheffield United on Dec. 30.
He got his first minutes against Huddersfield and afterwards admitted it was good to be back, if only because he's not a fan of watching games on TV.
"I can watch whatever football and I watched every game but I don't like it," he said.
"They've obviously been alright. After the year we had last year there will be ups and downs but most of the games except for Aston Villa and maybe Wolves we did fairly well. We are there with the other teams.
"If you're here with all the teams around you're not going to be far away. We are where we need to be, but we need to try and continue that."