Kevin De Bruyne has told Pep Guardiola to have the 'confidence' to put more trust in James McAtee.

McAtee made only his third Premier League appearance of the season for Manchester City at Leicester despite being in every matchday squad, with his previous two introductions coming in the 90th minute. Within eight minutes of coming on, McAtee's skill set up De Bruyne to find Savinho to cross for Erling Haaland to seal a much-needed win.

Clamour among City fans has grown for McAtee to be given a chance, and De Bruyne stressing how the dressing room always had faith in the youngster's ability.

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"He's got a really good quality. Obviously he's not played that much but today is important," the Belgian said. "For a young player to come in and give us a bit of energy. To give us a bit of a bright spark will do him good but also for us.

"Maybe he gives Pep a little more confidence to play him. It can only be a good thing."

Not every player could say something like that about their manager's selection decisions, but Guardiola and De Bruyne are close and the boss said as much about McAtee in his own press conference.

De Bruyne is often on the same page as Guardiola, yet he also speaks for the squad, adding that he hopes Savinho's first goal for City will give the Brazilian a confidence boost. De Bruyne also gave fans an insight into Guardiola's mood behind the scenes during City's poor run over the last two months, backing the man who just took control of his 500th game in charge.

"I think obviously he was a bit more down than usual, but I don't think it was a lot of difference," De Bruyne revealed. "You can't change yourself after having a bad moment. We've had so many good moments, we know how to win games. But at the moment we haven't won, it happens and you have to accept other people are also good and they are maybe in a better moment. You have to do your job, that's what we're trying, and hopefully it gets better."

And while De Bruyne couldn't answer a question about his own fitness and when he will return to his best, he is looking forward to a January schedule that will provide more time on the training pitch to get key players back into their rhythm, himself included.

"I hope to get better now. We have got some easier schedule," he added. "I hope that some training sessions in the next few weeks will get me into a better rhythm.

"It's hard to say [when he will be fully fit]. With the injury I had, I took a while and then I had four games in 10 days which was hard. I'm happy for today."

But rather than invite sympathy, De Bruyne pointed to the players who have been forced to play game after game while others have been out.

"For some of them it's really hard. It's been that kind of season," he explained. "The first four weeks was alright, then we came into a rhythm where we were struggling and people were playing too many games.

"But they have to do it because if you don't have anyone else, you have to play. They took the burden, hopefully after New Year people come back and we get back into a rhythm as a team. That will help."

De Bruyne confirmed that there have still not been any talks over his future, with clubs able to present offers to him from Wednesday.

A quick chat with De Bruyne as he left the King Power Stadium was a reminder of his value to both the City squad and management, expertly balancing the two camps, even if question marks remain over his long-term fitness.

City should do whatever they can to keep De Bruyne in some capacity.