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Kevin De Bruyne: 'Manchester City players feeling the strain'

Kevin De Bruyne admits that he and his Manchester City teammates "feel rubbish" due to their gruelling schedule across the opening six months of the season.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has confessed that he and his teammates are beginning to feel the strain of competing for silverware on four fronts this season.

The Citizens are well clear at the top of the Premier League and also remain in contention in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Champions League.

City's players have now been given four days off to recover ahead of a gruelling set of fixtures, with their top-flight campaign stuttering just a little after failing to win any of their last three away games.

De Bruyne, who played a full part in the 1-1 draw against Burnley at the weekend, admits that the rest period has come at the perfect time.

"I was feeling it from the first minute," he told reporters after the game at Turf Moor. "I've said it before - you feel great for 10 games, OK for 10 games, and then the rest you feel rubbish.

"You know, we've got to do what we've got to do. We've only got 15 or 16 players available at the moment so we need to get through it. It will do us a lot of good. I'm going away, it doesn't matter where!"

City boss Pep Guardiola was criticised ahead of his side's last outing for naming just six subs on the bench, having seen his squad depleted by injuries.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool34228475344174
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


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