Manchester City's Yaya Toure reveals he feels like a 20-year-old again after summer break

Yaya Toure admits his summer break has allowed him to re-charge his batteries

REJUVENATED Yaya Toure says he feels like a 20-year-old again.

 

And the Manchester City midfielder, 32, has pleaded with manager Manuel Pellegrini to play him in tonight’s Capital One Cup tie at Sunderland.

Pellegrini is expected to rest some of his top stars for the visit to the Stadium of Light but Toure, who has taken a break from international football with Ivory Coast, does not want to be one of them.

He looked a jaded figure last season when his form suffered after two years of non-stop football for club and country but a complete summer break has re-charged his batteries.

 

“I feel like I’m 20 years old because of what this club and the fans have done for me,” he said. “Until the last minute I want to fight for this club. They deserve that. 

“We have a lot of targets this year and the League Cup is one of them. It is very important. I’m always there for those games. I don’t want to stop and have a rest. I don’t care about rest. 

“For me, until I get a serious injury, I am fit and want to play. I hope I play against Sunderland. Why should I be rested? I look younger and I want to play more.”

Home defeats to Juventus in the Champions League and West Ham in the Premier League brought City’s flying start to the season to an abrupt halt but Toure refuses to be concerned.

 



Toure scored for City as they beat Sunderland in the 2014 League Cup Final



“I’m not worried,” he added. “Sometimes it is just about luck. We played well against West Ham but we were unlucky again, like we were against Juventus.

“The score did not reflect the whole game. We had so many shots and I missed some chances too. It comes down to little margins. We just lacked that little bit of luck. Now we have to deal with this defeat. We have fantastic players in the dressing room and we are going to come back, that’s for sure.”

Toure also backed Sergio Aguero to end his goal shortage. Aguero, last season's Golden Boot winner, has managed only one goal so far and missed several chances on Saturday.

“Sergio will definitely come back,” he said. “He just needs a goal. You have to keep going and it will come in the future.”

Pellegrini is set to rotate his squad with No 2 ‘keeper Willy Caballero, Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony, Martin Demichelis, Fernando and Kelechi Iheancho all set to start.