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Vincent Kompany insists he has already put his troubled 2014/15 Premier League season behind him - and says he is hungrier than when he was a teenager.

That will be music to Blues fans’ ears after seeing their captain’s impeccably high standards - and the club’s grip on the Premier League crown - slip last term.

The City leader, 29, struggled with injuries and poor form and he missed the run-in to the season as City saw Chelsea canter to the title.

It was telling that, even as his fitness improved in that period, manager Manuel Pellegrini was happy to leave his talisman on the bench and stick by the partnership of Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala in central defence as runners-up spot was sealed.

But Belgian Kompany is not the type to make a drama of his situation.

The 2012/13 Premier League player of the year will simply work hard to reattain the level where he was regarded as the top-flight’s finest centre-back.

He said: “At the level at which I play, I don’t expect flowers when things aren’t going well.

“The day I win a prize and I have a good season, people will say I’m the best defender in the world.

“When a forward dribbles past me, they’ll say I’m the worst defender in the world.

“The truth is that I can play football - don’t worry - and I’m coming back even stronger than before. I have to show it on the pitch. I don’t have a choice.

“That’s the challenge for me.

“Every day, I wake up in the morning motivated to go to work and ‘kill’ myself in training if necessary, because I know there are many things to come.”

Kompany made 25 appearances for City last season - and displayed his poorest form since arriving at the Etihad from Hamburg in 2008.

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But he has rubbished the idea that he is over the hill and says he has an ‘indescribable desire’ to improve.

“Up until November, it was a very good season,” he said. “After that, there were some injuries, and it was difficult to get my rhythm back. That’s why I can’t wait for the season to start.

“I’m 29, and I want to show that I am still able to achieve a higher level than I have shown up till now.

“I’m hungrier now than when I was 17 and I made my first-team debut at Anderlecht.

“It’s indescribable the desire I have to get out on the pitch and to put on my boots and dot the Is and cross the ‘Ts. There is a time for everything.

“I am preparing myself, I’m building my strength, and I’m trying to improve.”