Floyd Samba described his Manchester City debut as “mind-blowing” after his brace helped see off Norwich City as the Citizens reached the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

Samba, along with Geronimo Rulli and Allan, all made their debuts for City, and the trio wasted little time in making an impression during a 5-0 thrashing of the Canaries.

Enzo Maresca’s side took the lead in the 29th minute through Samba, who headed into the bottom-left corner after Allan delivered the ball into a dangerous area.

Right before the game yesterday, the day before, I knew there would be an opportunity to get some minutes for the first time with the first team – to make a debut like that is mind-blowing,” Samba said in a post match radio imterview

“I couldn’t believe it myself – but that’s just the beginning. I’ve got a big career ahead of me. It was a great debut. I couldn’t be happier right now.

“Being my first senior debut, you have to expect everything to go well, the intensity, the level of players, everything goes up, and you have to be able to match it and cope with it, and I think I did well with that.

“Coming from the 21’s to first-team training, that’s a big jump – the sessions are more tiring, you have to run more – they demand more of you, and you have to cope with it.

“I spoke to all of them [the first-team players], they’ve all been brilliant with me – before the game, giving me advice, like ‘play your game, be you’ – those words gave me confidence and helped me score those two goals today.

“I can’t wait – recover now, rest, the team goes again – training tomorrow and then Sunderland on the weekend. Everyone has to be prepared for that.”
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City have now progressed from 19 consecutive EFL Cup ties against lower-league opponents, since going out to Brighton on penalties in the 2008-09 second round.

And Fabian Hurzeler’s side will be their opponents in the next round after they came from two goals down to knock out City’s rivals Manchester United on Wednesday.

Brügge forward Tresoldi was not included in the latest Germany national team squad, and new Germany coach Klopp personally explained the reason.

Although Tresoldi was not selected this time, it does not mean he is excluded from the Germany national team.

Klopp said about the 22-year-old player. Tresoldi is also eligible to play for Italy but has not yet decided which national team to represent.

“For a young person, it’s really difficult. It’s not about which national anthem he wants to sing when he wakes up in the morning; it involves many things,” Klopp said.

“We don’t want to put any pressure on this player. We want to show him prospects. If there’s a chance to give him a little more time, that’s absolutely reasonable. This is the case with Nicolo (Tresoldi).”

Tresoldi has represented Germany since U19 but has not yet been called up to the senior national team.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Thursday morning, Coventry City manager Frank Lampard addressed Taiwo Awoniyi’s unavailability for the Sky Blues’ Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

The Premier League has confirmed that the Nigeria international is suspended for gameweeks 5 and 6, ruling him out of Coventry City’s upcoming fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.

Awoniyi also missed Coventry’s Carabao Cup clash with Aston Villa on Wednesday after being sent off in last weekend’s defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old has been a regular in Coventry’s attack since joining the club, starting four of the five matches in which he has been available for selection.

Having spent four years at Nottingham Forest, Awoniyi would have been familiar with the club and the City Ground, making his absence particularly disappointing for both the player and Coventry.

Lampard acknowledged that the suspension is unfortunate, especially given Awoniyi’s strong connection with his former club.

He told reporters: “It’s not ideal for us. It’s not ideal for him, disappointing on that front.
“Taiwo has come in and played for us while he was still searching for real match fitness because of the protracted transfer. He came in quite late and hasn’t played pre-season games.

“He was getting better and will get better. Now he has to train and get fit.

“It’s a shame that he’s not going back to Forest, where he is obviously held in high regard personally, and also he’s an important player for us.”

Awoniyi has one goal and an assist for Coventry City following his summer move from Nottingham Forest.