Micah Hamilton overcame Man City struggle to make shock debut vs Crvena Zvezda

When Micah Hamilton smashed into the roof of the net on his Manchester City debut, the ballboy story became even more impossible to ignore.

Making the step from restarting games from the sidelines to winning games on the pitch is the sort of script that producers would jump at, and the fact that Hamilton had been involved in a significant exchange with Pep Guardiola six years ago also added to the narrative. City's manager could not remember the incident - little wonder given everything that must have gone through his head in the time since - but being presented with the picture even drew a wow from him.

For the 20-year-old making all the headlines though, another moment was in his head. His start in Belgrade came a year after he was having injections in his ankle to try and bring his injury hell to an end.

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All in all, issues with his ankle robbed Hamilton of about 18 months of his blossoming career and it cannot be underestimated how difficult that can be to overcome. Coming through a top academy requires such mental steel on top of the outstanding footballing ability, and as if injury isn't debilitating enough for someone they also have to watch and be happy for the teammates that get the breaks in that time that could have gone to them.

Hamilton has shown commendable patience to keep his head and his game throughout, and his performances as Under-21s captain this season had earned calls to the bench against Newcastle and Young Boys before the decision that would momentarily wipe the strength from his legs. For all the thanks Hamilton has for Guardiola, he