Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Ilkay Gundogan ready to 'make a difference' for Manchester City

MANCHESTER, England -- Ilkay Gundogan is keen to make up for lost time after finally making his debut for Manchester City.

Gundogan, 25, was Pep Guardiola's first signing in the summer but only started his first game at the club in the 4-0 Champions League victory over Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday.

The Germany international has had to wait patiently for his opportunity as he recovered from a dislocated kneecap suffered in May, which also forced him to miss Euro 2016.

He lasted 80 minutes against Monchengladbach and impressed as City blew away their Bundesliga opponents and is now hoping for his first taste of Premier League action against Bournemouth on Saturday.

"I feel good, I want to play and make a difference, but [Pep] will decide," he told reporters. "There are a lot of games in the next few weeks and I need to get used to it.

"Coming from Germany, and having no winter break and two cup competitions means everything is changing for me. I think I am ready to play again on Saturday if the manager needs me."

Gundogan has been impressed by what he has seen from the sidelines as City have made a 100 percent start with seven wins from seven.

And he admits he faces tough competition to get into the starting lineup with so many talented players starting the season in fine form.

Gundogan wasn't in the original team to face Monchengladbach on Tuesday night but, after the game was put back 24 hours because of thunderstorms in Manchester, he came into the side with David Silva rested as a precaution after picking up a knock in training.

"David was out and I played there against Gladbach -- it's a quite good position," he added.

"There are so many incredible, talented players, but it's a long season with so many games and we want to compete in all competitions.

"It gives you a good feeling having so many good players around you -- you can only profit from that.

"We have big targets this season so we need these players, and we still have injured players like Vincent Kompany to come back."

The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder has managed to stay upbeat despite his four-month injury setback.

He said there was no point getting frustrated by being sidelined -- particularly after he lost 12 months to a career-threatening back injury in 2013.

"I was always confident I would be back. I am used to being injured and five months was nothing for me -- with my back I was injured for more than a year," Gundogan said.

"This is football, it happens. Injuries are part of it, it's the way you handle these situations and I was always confident I would be back. I am back a little earlier than I thought."

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