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Premier League: Manuel Pellegrini wants more from Yaya Toure and Fernandinho

 Yaya Toure of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League Group E match v CSKA Moscow
Image: Yaya Toure: Needs to return to his best form

Manuel Pellegrini wants to see Yaya Toure and Fernandinho back to the form that made Manchester City's midfield a potent force last season.

Neither player has lived up to the standards they set in 2013-14 when they were the driving force behind City's triumphant march to the Premier League title.

Toure's poor form has come after a difficult summer in which he voiced criticisms of the club and lost his brother to cancer, while Fernandinho has seemed below-par since Brazil's home World Cup campaign ended in an embarrassing 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany.

They were both sent off in the Champions League defeat by CSKA Moscow earlier this month and are expected to start against Swansea on Saturday because of their European suspensions, which will see them miss the clash with Bayern Munich.

"It's a moment for both of them to return to (being) the best midfielders of the Premier League," Pellegrini said.

"They were the two midfielders who, for me, with (David) Silva and (Samir) Nasri, were very important last season in the way that we played. I hope that they are in their normal performance (on Saturday).

Silva's absence has also been a big problem for Pellegrini and he admitted he still has no idea when the Spanish star will be able to return despite coming back into light training last week.

"We don't know because David still feels some pain in his knee, so he's not able to kick the ball," he added.

"We'll see if next week he can be ready at the end of the week, but we are not sure. It will depend on the way he improves in the next few days."

Toure will head off to the Africa Cup of Nations in January as well but despite losing a key player for possibly a month, Pellegrini believes it is good for him to be involved.

He said: "For me it is very good news. It is very important in the way I think.

"Maybe other managers think in another way but for me it is very important that all our players can play for their national squad. It is very important for him, for his country. We are very happy he qualifies.

"It is better a player has a good success for his national squad than when they lose and are eliminated, so that is good for Yaya.

"We will see in January when he will not be here what we will do."

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