Returning stars delight Hughes
Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2009 by PA
Big-spending Mark Hughes reckons he has "a full complement of riches" as Manchester City march into the Carling Cup quarter-finals.
A commanding 5-1 fourth-round victory over Scunthorpe sent City into a last eight that now includes six of the top seven sides in the Premier League.
Goals from Stephen Ireland, Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez and Michael Johnson eventually overwhelmed Scunthorpe, although they were level at one stage in the first period through Jonathan Forte.
Hughes said: "We have got virtually everyone back now. We have been able to rest players and the injured ones will be back for the weekend.
"We have a full complement of riches now to chose from, and we are delighted with the positives from this one.
"We gave Roque Santa Cruz his first game, and he was excellent. He got a fine goal and his movement and awareness of people around him was first class.
"He will now grow into his role here. And we had Michael Johnson finally back after his injuries. The goal he scored showed the quality he has, and thankfully he is back fit and well.
"You can then see the talent he has. He has been really missed and we now want him in the side more regularly. He'll be like a new signing considering he's been out for over a year with various injuries.
He added: "You just need to look at the quality of sides left in the tournament to know that clubs are now taking it more seriously.
"They are giving it more significance than they have done in the past. We made a statement right at the beginning that we would take it seriously and have a good run at it.
"We are now in the last eight with a lot of big clubs. We are in good shape, we are playing well and let's hope we get a good draw.
Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins knew his side had given everything, but could not cope with the class they were facing.
He said: "City have made it clear they want to win this tournament by the strength of the side they put out.
"If they had turned out a weakened side they could have come unstuck. We played well and created a lot of chances.
"But the quality of City shone through in the second half, the workrate was phenomenal and a lesson to our lads.
"But they are top drawer players - they want to win this cup and have made that very obvious.
"We were playing against people who are close to the best in the world and the scoreline was what most people expected."
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