Kevin De Bruyne targets first English trophy in Capital One Cup
Kevin De Bruyne has set his sights on brushing off Hull City's challenge to pursue his first trophy in English football.
The Belgium international, who has made a major impact at the Etihad since joining from Wolfsburg in the summer, is likely to feature in Tuesday's quarter-final against the Tigers.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini has fond memories of the competition - it was also his first trophy in English football in 2014 - and is likely to resist the temptation to field a weakened line-up against the opponents from the Championship.
De Bruyne, the 24-year-old who was signed for B#54million, said: "If we win we are already in the semi-finals - it would be nice to play in the Capital One final because if you win it's the first trophy of the season. Obviously I think we will try everything to win this."
Pellegrini said that he will not be making many changes from the side that beat Southampton 3-1 at the weekend. Sergio Aguero looks likely to be left out after he limped off with what looked like an ankle injury against the Saints, although Pellegrini has played down its severity saying it was merely a "kick in the heel".
David Silva could make his first start since October 3 - the Spain international came off the bench against Southampton - but keeper Joe Hart is expected to still be out injured.
Pellegrini said: "We will see, with the medical staff, the way they recover from these games. Maybe we are going to make some changes but not so many as [Pablo] Zabaleta, [Vincent] Kompany, [Eliaquim] Mangala, [Samir] Nasri are all out are out of this game.
"So, especially in defending, we cannot make so many changes. We will see in the other positions which is the best team to start.
"It is important to be focused now game by game to try to have consistency.
"Maybe for teams that are out of some competitions - the Champions League or the Capital One - it is easier to play in the Premier League. But we always want to continue in all the competitions."
Aguero later used Twitter to confirm his injury was minor.
"For everyone asking, I'm fine. It's just a harmless bump on the heel. Thanks, all of you, for the support!" he wrote.
Steve Bruce wants Hull to recreate their FA Cup heroics of 2014 when they defied the odds to reach the FA Cup final
The Tigers surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 against Arsenal at Wembley 18 months ago but, having already dumped out both Swansea and Leicester in this season's Capital One Cup, Bruce feels another big upset is not beyond his players.
"Once you get to this stage Man City will be looking at it and thinking Arsenal are out, Chelsea are out, Man U are out," Bruce said.
"So there's a path forward for them and we can only think the same thing.
"If we can mount a great upset then we'll give ourselves a chance, which we did 18 months ago in the FA Cup."
Hull will look to bounce back from their first defeat in 14 matches after losing 2-0 at home against Sky Bet Championship promotion rivals Derby on Friday night, but Bruce insists his players remain upbeat for the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
"Up until Friday we hadn't been beaten for four months," he said.
"We've had a really consistent run, we've only lost three out of 22 games and rightly so we can feel a bit confident, even though we lost on Friday.
"We've got to have the belief we can mount a challenge against them and take them on.
"We've had a good cup run so let's see if we can challenge one of the best teams in Europe."
Bruce blamed himself for the setback against Derby, which knocked his side off top spot, after making too many changes in the absence of suspended defender Andy Robertson.
He said: "I made a mistake, but even 800 games in you've still got to give yourself a smack now and again and say 'what the hell are you doing?'
"Sometimes in hindsight it's easy so in that respect I blame myself for the first 25 minutes.
"We'll make sure people are playing in the right position on Tuesday night."
Robertson is expected to return to the side after serving a one-game ban and winger Robert Snodgrass could make his first appearance of the season.
He returned to the bench as an unused substitute on Friday having recovered from a dislocated knee, but Bruce is still without key defender Michael Dawson (hamstring).
Source: PAR
