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Sergio Aguero says he has no problem with being benched by Pep Guardiola.

The Argentine striker was dropped by the Manchester City boss in January when he favoured new signing Gabriel Jesus .

He regained his place and impressed when the Brazilian suffered a metatarsal injury that has kept him out for two months.

Jesus is ready now to return ahead of Thursday’s derby while Aguero has overcome a knock as Guardiola again faces the prospect of choosing between his two hitmen - or using both against United.

However, Aguero insists there is no bad blood towards the Spaniard after he was axed for the first time in his City career.

“I’ve always adapted to whatever the manager has decided,” Aguero told Sky Sports . “When I was on the bench, it wasn’t a problem.

“Pep spoke to me and told me he was going with Gabriel Jesus. I just had to keep training hard and trying to do well when I got the chance to restore the manager’s confidence in me.

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“Gabriel Jesus was very unfortunate to be out for two months, so I had the chance to restore the manager’s faith in me.

“Luckily, things are going well for me. I’m happy that he’s back now and that means I’ll have to be much more focused and alert when I play. If I have to start on the bench once again, I’ll have to accept it.

“That’s football. I always respect my coaches and I certainly respect Pep. I just want to play and give my all until the end of the season.”

Guardiola has demanded more of Aguero this season - urging him to press and run more as well as scoring.

And the 28-year-old admits it has been tough to change his game, saying: “The thing I’ve found the hardest has been getting into my head the fact that I have to press the centre-back and the goalkeeper in matches.

“That’s what Pep asks me to do.

“It may not be a big deal, but in terms of processing it, the two of us speak a lot. He knows what I’m like. I’ve been gradually learning and adapting to that style of pressing over the last few months. The first thing he taught me was how to press and how to do it well.

“Obviously there are times when I might drift out of position or I might press in an area where I’m not supposed to be, which might make it hard for the wingers or midfielders.

“I’ve been adapting this year and so has the team. The team has adapted to a different style of play. Every coach has his own style of play. The style under Pep is more attacking. Maybe I get more goalscoring chances and there’s more for me to do. I always have to be ready to press and it can be tough because I can’t see what’s going on behind me and the centre-backs put pressure on me. It’s very tough.

“I have to focus on my distribution when I receive the ball and make sure that I lay it off well, while thinking about who is around me. There are many things going through my head. I’ve learnt a lot about that. At the start, I misplaced a lot of passes to the players supporting me, which I’ve learnt from. That’s how you learn. You learn more year-on-year even when you get older, and I’m already old.”