De Bruyne has made three substitute appearances for the Citizens following a five-month layoff with a hamstring injury that required surgery.
The Belgian's latest outing was a 25-minute cameo off the bench in Man City's 1-0 away victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday night.
De Bruyne's inswinging corner in the 88th minute led to the match-winner being prodded home by Nathan Ake from close range to ensure that the FA Cup holders have their name in the hat for Sunday's fifth-round draw.
Man City's No.17 was also instrumental in the 3-2 victory away against Newcastle United in the Premier League two weeks ago, registering a goal and an assist in the final 16 minutes, while he also set up Jeremy Doku for a goal in a 5-0 FA Cup third-round win over Huddersfield Town at the beginning of this month – his first appearance in any competition since August.
Guardiola has acknowledged that De Bruyne is building up his match fitness and believes that the playmaker will soon be ready to be called upon from the start.
«He's ready,» the Catalan boss told reporters via mancity.com. «I don't know [when], sooner or later he is going to play from the beginning.
»For many reasons we want to protect him. Always we have the sense he is going to create something.
«It's important that he can feel good and understand problems. He made an exceptional corner in the right spot – really good.»
Guardiola was delighted with the manner of his side's performance against Spurs and was pleased to see the club's five-game losing streak without scoring at
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