Assistant boss Juanma Lillo admitted he did not enjoy standing in for Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Sheffield United.
The Premier League champions looked to have been undone by the Blades after Jayden Bogle scored in the 85th minute to make it 1-1 but Rodri stepped up with another important goal for his club a few minutes later.
And Lillo was quick to deny any enjoyment in his role with Guardiola still recovering from back surgery.
He said: “I much prefer being with Pep. Especially when it’s a question of health, I don’t enjoy this at all. We miss his presence now more than ever.
“During the match, I spoke to him at some moments, but generally he was speaking to the other members of the technical staff. But he’s been totally present today.
“Generally I thought we played really well today, it was a lot closer to what we wanted.
“We were able to find the new spaces created from winning the ball back quicker and we could have scored more before the first goal went in.”
