Manuel Pellegrini never had any doubt Sergio Aguero would soon be back in the goals for Manchester City.
Aguero, City's star striker, roared back to form after a mixed start to the season with five goals in a sensational 20-minute spell in Saturday's 6-1 demolition of Newcastle.
Prior to the game the 27-year-old, City's top scorer with 32 goals from 41 appearances last season, had not struck from open play since the victory over Chelsea on August 16.
But as Pellegrini had hoped, his late penalty winner against Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek, after an otherwise frustrating performance, provided the spark he needed.
Pellegrini said: "I was confident. I just said it was very important for him to keep calm.
"He was not nervous because he was not scoring, he knows playing in the way we play and with his quality he will score.
"This team always will try to score more goals and play attractive football because, as I always say, I am a fan of the fans. The fans pay for their tickets and want to see their team playing in this way."
Aguero has regularly scored in bursts but has often been hampered by injuries. Last season he changed his diet and training regime in a bid to eliminate recurring muscle problems, but little could be done to prevent an impact injury at Crystal Palace last month.
The knee injury suffered at Selhurst Park clearly affected him, although he did not miss any games, but he now seems to have fully recovered.
Pellegrini said: "Last season Kun finished the season without any problems and I said at the beginning of this season he is doing a lot of different things, so I am not worried about his injuries. At least he will not have muscle injuries.
"Maybe the kinds of fouls against Crystal Palace can injure him but I think muscle injuries he will not have more problems with."
Despite that, Aguero was withdrawn after 66 minutes at the Etihad Stadium to protect a slight hamstring niggle, denying him the chance to become the first player to score six in a Barclays Premier League game.
Nevertheless, City's job was done, having powered back from behind with a formidable display of attacking football.
Kevin de Bruyne set up two of Aguero's goals and also got on the scoresheet while David Silva was also back on form, teeing up another two.
De Bruyne said of Aguero: "He can score goals out of nothing. Obviously it is great to have him on the team and I think in the second half he played really well."
Newcastle were actually the better side in the early stages, taking an 18th-minute lead through Aleksandar Mitrovic, having another disallowed for offside and spurning other chances.
But they capitulated alarmingly after Aguero levelled on 42 minutes and slumped to the bottom of the table, still winless.
Manager Steve McClaren said: "What needs to be done cannot be turned around in a short space of time. It needs patience from us and we have seen in the last two weeks the work that has been done and what this team is capable of doing.
"In the first half we looked a very good Premier League team. In the second we didn't look a very good team. There is a team in there, we have seen that, but we need to produce that for 90 minutes."
Source: PA
