Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 7y

Manchester City's Leroy Sane hoping to keep starting spot vs. West Brom

Leroy Sane says he must impress to secure a place in Manchester City's starting lineup.

The 20-year-old has not had much game-time since he joined the Etihad club in a £37.5 million move from Schalke in the summer.

He missed the preseason after playing with Germany at the European Championship and was out for the start of the season with a hamstring injury -- watching from the sidelines as City won their opening 10 games under Pep Guardiola.

Fellow forwards Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Nolito have all started the season in impressive fashion making it difficult for Sane to break into the side.

He has, however, started City's last two Premier League games and the midweek defeat to Manchester United, and is hoping to keep his place for Saturday's trip to West Bromwich Albion.

"Of course it's difficult because every position is well covered which means you have to put the effort in and perform in training as well," Sane said. "You've got to show the confidence you've got and build on that.

"A lot of it [joining City] was to do with the coach. He spoke to me and I had conversations with the club. It's also about going forward and the project over the next few years. It's a club that wants to go places, and hopefully I'll be part of that.

"It's early in the season but you can already see it is very high quality and all teams are fighting to get points.

"That improvement over the recent seasons has come from all the different teams.

"I think at the start of the season, people said we'd win the league but you see the surprises the Premier League throws up. That's going to carry on, but I'm confident we can deal with that challenge as well."

After their great start to the season, City are six matches without a victory and Guardiola is desperate for the winless streak to end.

However, Sane believes the side have been playing well and that results will pick up quickly if they continue to stick with the way they've been playing.

"Of course it's not good to have not won in six games but I don't think that the way we're playing is a concern," he added.

"You can look at certain mistakes we've made at the back or not scoring up front but I think we're playing well overall so there's no need to panic.

"It's important for me to be positive. The mood comes from the dressing room and training and it's important that we stick together as a team."

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