Wednesday 28 October 2015 23:52, UK
Manuel Pellegrini was full of praise for Kelechi Iheanacho after he starred in Manchester City's Capital One Cup win over Crystal Palace.
The 19-year-old scored once and set up two as City eased past Palace 5-1 at the Etihad to set up a home clash with Hull in the quarter-finals.
It was an impressive display from the youngster on his full debut and Pellegrini said afterwards that he has an "important future" with the club.
"He is a player who is growing and improving every day because he is working with important players," Pellegrini told Sky Sports.
"I am happy for him because he deserves it. He has a lot of personality to play, he always wants the ball, he plays important passes and he is not just a striker in the box - he will be very important in the way we play."
Iheanacho played up front with Wilfried Bony - who also scored - and in the absence of Sergio Aguero through injury, Pellegrini took real heart from Kelechi's display.
"I think this moment it's important for the team to have Kelechi and Bony as options without Kun (Aguero)," Pellegrini added.
"They can play both together as they did tonight. Bony played well tonight. Of course Kelechi was very impressive but Wilfried also knows he has all my trust and his team-mates' trust.
"Kun is impossible to replace but we know we have another option in attack."
Also on target for City in a comfortable victory were Kevin De Bruyne, Yaya Toure and 17-year-old Manu Garcia.
"It was a very good performance," said Pellegrini. "We won the game, scored five goals and defended very well. We also had young players out and a lot of changes."
The only negative on the night for City was a suspected knee injury to Pablo Zabaleta that saw him stretchered off.
"He is coming back from a ligament injury and it's the same knee," said Pellegrini. "We need to wait until tomorrow to see the extent."
