Pep Guardiola says Raheem Sterling's England captaincy has given him a huge Man City lift

Pep Guardiola thinks that Raheem Sterling's England triumph in midweek has perfectly set him up for Manchester City's run-in. The Blues winger captained his country for the first time in the 3-0 win over Ivory Coast in midweek and celebrated that with a goal and an assist in a man-of-the-match performance.

Guardiola cashed in on his high confidence by starting him in the Premier League clash with Burnley, and reaped the reward as Sterling set up both goals in a 2-0 win that returned City to the top of the table. Sterling was a huge menace and after a patchy season, his return to form is a major plus as City head into a fortnight where their chase for three trophies will be determined, with two Champions League quarter-final legs against Atletico Madrid spliced with league and FA Cup meetings with Liverpool.

The manager left Riyad Mahrez on the bench after his World Cup qualifying heartache with Algeria, and Sterling made a strong case to keep his place in the team as Atletico head to the Etihad Stadium for Tuesday's first leg. Guardiola was impressed, as he said afterwards: "Raheem comes back - all the team come back - wow, incredibly.

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"Captain, you could see today how decisive he was in all the decisions. He creates one-twos on the right side and with his speed ... All of them, John (Stones) is not perfect (fitness-wise) and Ayme (Laporte) should play on the right side not the left.

"We have to feel the pressure. Hopefully, Liverpool is going to lose against us, apart from that I don’t think they drop points. We have to live with this pressure. We have to win eight games."

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