Mendy focused on Manchester City future after making FA Cup comeback

Benjamin Mendy is confident his injury problems are behind him after returning to the Manchester City team in Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final victory over Brighton and Hove Albion.

The 24-year-old defender has made just nine Premier League appearances while struggling with knee injuries this season but he completed 79 minutes at Wembley as Pep Guardiola’s men kept their hopes of a historic quadruple alive.

France international Mendy gave a positive assessment of his condition after the game, and said he is ready to help City finish the season on a high.

“When I came back [previously] sometimes the swelling stayed,” Mendy told reporters. “But now it’s good, we can forget the past and think about the future.

“I feel really fit and I want to give everything I can to help my team.

“I have missed a lot of games but my team-mates have been incredible so we need to trust and to believe we can go on and end up with a lot of trophies.”

Shark attack!

1-0 #mancity pic.twitter.com/bhvn9gveBF

— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 6, 2019

City travel to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Spurs on Tuesday evening, before resuming their Premier League title charge at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Mendy, whose professional honours include World Cup, Premier League, Ligue 1 and EFL Cup winners’ medals, said the flexibility of Guardiola’s team was important in the win over Brighton and praised the bond between his team-mates.

“Everything worked well,” he said. “All the players work on a lot of positions because a lot of things can change.

“Like Danilo took the place of Kyle [Walker] after John [Stones] took my place on the left, so we need to be ready to play everywhere. We can move all the time.

“We are happy we want to win as many trophies as possible, so we try to play good to give everything for the fans. That is what we did today.

“We will have a good rest and follow the manager’s instructions.”