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Yaya Toure stayed perfectly professional during his Manchester City exile.

And that earned him high praise from teammate Bacary Sagna, who said that the big midfielder's conduct in training avoided what could have been a difficult situation.

Toure was allowed to stay training with the first team, even after manager Pep Guardiola had banned him from playing until his agent Dmitri Seluk apologised for comments he made to the media.

After Toure himself issued an apology, Guardiola lifted the ban – and the Ivorian responded with both goals and a man of the match performance in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.

The stand-off between the club and Seluk could have been tricky if Toure had been disaffected by the situation, but Sagna said he could not have handled it better.

And that was why they applauded him off the field at Selhurst Park, said Sagna.

“It could have been a difficult situation,” said Sagna.

“But knowing the man I was not surprised to see him achieving the game he played at Palace because he was always respectful to everyone, always professional, and he is always the first one to try to play football, his football.

“He was vital for us. Technically, he made a big difference in getting us back into the game – and he scored two goals!”

And Sagna spoke for the dressing room when he added: “I am very pleased for him because it has not been easy for him in the past few weeks.

“But he kept working really hard in training, stayed professional, and that was his just reward.

“Everyone knows his quality, and he showed he is a great player. Everyone was expecting a lot from him and he responded back.

“The manager showed his confidence in Yaya, and Yaya gave it back to him.

“Yaya is a great guy and has always been part of the club – no-one doubts he is a great player, but he showed some character and proved he can be decisive.”

Toure's return from playing exile adds another midfield option just as the hectic winter schedule begins to bite.

It allowed Guardiola to give Ilkay Gundogan a rest and leave David Silva on the bench at Palace.

That means those two will head to Wednesday's crunch Champions League game at Borussia Monchengladbach in good nick.

The win at Palace also set them up nicely, with Sagna saying it was the type of result that can win you trophies.

“We earned the three points,” he said. “That's what it's all about if you want to be successful in the Premier League, win these kind of games.

“We work in every training session to play the best football, but we weren't allowed to play as well as we have recently.

“In the past weeks we have been playing brilliantly and not winning, especially at home, but at Palace we showed some character and it was really important to step up from the last game.”