Kevin De Bruyne issues Man City fitness update ahead of Manchester United game

Kevin De Bruyne is fighting fit for the Manchester derby after returning to the Manchester City team with a bang.

De Bruyne had an instant impact in January after five months out, helping Pep Guardiola's side to wins in three different competitions to boost their Treble chances. However, he was forced to sit out the Chelsea game with hamstring niggles and only came on as a substitute at Bournemouth at the weekend.

City and De Bruyne are both cautious about pushing too hard too quickly as they look to have the playmaker firing for the most critical part of the season, starting on Sunday with the home game against United. The Belgian, who warmed up with four assists in the FA Cup demolition of Luton, is expecting minor issues to pop up as he eases his way back in but encouragingly has not had any problems with the hamstring that required him to miss the first half of the campaign.

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"I feel good. I think only against Brentford I was a little bit tired and I had a kick on my other hamstring," he said. "I just wanted to make sure that I didn't risk that but I feel fine and I hope to maintain that. Normally I just play on but that's mostly been my downfall before!

"In a way, I try to take care of myself but I also make decisions. Since I came back my hamstring for the surgery has been great so I'm very happy about that. But I know if you don't play for six months and come back you're going to get niggles everywhere else. It's normal and it's fine."

Despite the niggles, De Bruyne's form since returning has been sensational. He has bagged 11 assists to top the club