Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has jumped to the defence of Yaya Toure over his form this season.
Toure has still to prove he can recapture the form that saw him score 24 goals last season to help fire the big spenders to the league title.
But Pellegrini said: "I don't agree that Yaya has had a bad season.
"Maybe if you compare his performances this year to last season, when he had a brilliant performance, it has not been quite the same level.
"But maybe he just needs time to get back to that level. He continues to be a very important player for our team, however, as he showed in our win against Aston Villa.
"He has the quality to make the difference when we have to fight and when we play teams who have 10 men behind the ball.
"Every game he is playing better. He had a very complicated summer, but I think now he is arriving back towards his normal performance."
