by Jeremy Doku insists there is no pressure on Manchester City’s forwards to score more to mask the absence of midfield pivot Rodri.
The champions must find a way without the influential Spaniard after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury last month.
Mateo Kovacic proved a more than adequate substitute on Saturday with two goals as City came from behind to beat Fulham 3-2 in a tough Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
It was a game in which City managed 20 shots – with Doku himself scoring a superb goal – and the Belgian claims the approach was no different than usual.
He said: “Every time we try to score more goals. It’s not because Rodri is not there that we are trying to score more.
“If we can score even more, we will always try with or without Rodri.
“He’s a one-of-a-kind player, but Kova played his position and did well. He scored two nice goals. He’s a good guy, he deserves what he gets.
City dominated the early stages and were stunned when Andreas Pereira put Fulham ahead in the 26th minute after a clever backheel from Raul Jimenez.
Yet the Cottagers had already served a warning when Adama Traore missed a golden opportunity and the same player wasted several others during a frustrating afternoon.
They were made to pay for those misses as Kovacic turned the tables with his brace and Doku sealed the points with a fine strike in the 82nd minute before a late consolation from Rodrigo Muniz.
“I saw there was a lot of space inside and I just tried to hit the ball well,” said Doku, who cut inside from the left to shoot from distance after having left the bench.
“As soon as I looked up, I scored. I like dribbling goals, for example against Luton, but of course this is one of the most beautiful.”
Fulham’s defeat was their first since losing 1-0 across town at Manchester United in their opening match of the season.
Despite the result, Pereira felt the Cottagers could take a lot from their performance.
“There are mixed feelings,” he said. “We created a few chances and I would say a draw would be fair. We are very proud of what we have done.
“It’s a tough place to play and we played well. They have a lot of quality players and we have shown that we can compete with them.
