Cole fires up his first-team hopes

EVEN if City didn't have a Covid crisis, Cole Palmer would have surely started at Swindon in the FA Cup on Friday night.

- JOE BRAY

This season, he's scored his first goal for the club in the Carabao Cup, netted in the Champions League and made his Premier League debut before scoring a hat-trick for the under-23s in the same day. He's been a regular in first-team training, and in recent weeks he's been a fixture on the bench.

A start at a League Two side in the Cup was a logical next step, with Palmer able to show what he's learned this season from his increasing responsibility in the first team.

And boy did he take that chance, earning all the post-match attention after his fine assist and lovely solo goal late on to bookend a brilliant performance.

This was his best display for the first team, combining his undoubted talent and technique with an extra maturity he's maybe lacked before. For the first time, he was appearing on a par with the rest of City's world class players.

The likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva were all looking to Palmer to be their creative output on the right. They gave him the ball in tricky situations and made runs with the expectation the 19-yearold made the right decision with possession.