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Manuel Pellegrini had more good news for Manchester City fans after watching his team thump Sunderland.

There were plenty of positives on the pitch for the Blues as four first-half goals ensured they comfortably made it through to the next round of the League Cup.

And while the manager admitted he enjoyed watching Kevin De Bruyne and Co run riot, he was keen to draw attention to the absent stars.

"I always enjoy to see good players," he said.

"I think it is also important for our team because we had eight players injured for this game that we cannot use: Silva, Nasri, Delph, Zabaleta, Kompany, Mangala, Bony and Kelechi.

"It is an important number of players that we couldn't use. That's why it was important to win the game and important to win in the way we played."

Pellegrini did not go into detail on the injury each sidelined player has.

But he gave supporters hope that some will be back in the frame when City head to Spurs on Saturday.

Asked on Kompany, Silva and Bony, the manager replied: "We'll see during the week the way they recover from now until Saturday. I hope we will recover a couple of them for the next game."

City's early goals made it easier for three youngsters to come on, and Patrick Roberts, Manu Garcia and George Evans made it off the bench for their competitive debuts.

The latter's participation was particularly notable as he became the first player to represent every age group at City and feature for the senior side, having joined the club aged six.

Pellegrini admitted he would have liked to have made more changes but was restricted by the number of injuries.

"Probably," he agreed, "because there are four or five players that are playing all the games - Sagna, Kolarov, Yaya...

"I repeat we have eight injured players so it was important to have a strong squad from the beginning and during the game to give opportunities to young players."

The manager was cautious before the game about City's recent record at Sunderland, but was pleased to see De Bruyne and Sterling impress.

"I expected it was not so easy because it is always difficult for our team to play here at Sunderland.

"But I think that we started the game very strong from the beginning, we tried to score as soon as we can and we have important players in attack that are very dangerous with space.

"I think that Kevin is settling in our team with every game, that is why it was important for him to play. Also for Raheem. Both of them played very well today and demonstrated why they are here."