PRODIGAL son Shaun Wright-Phillips hailed his new team-mates and his old fans after his match-winning return for City at Sunderland.

The England international, one of three signings in as many days for Mark Hughes, struck twice in eight minutes as rampant City moved amongst the Premier League pacesetters.

It was by any standards a remarkable return for the former Academy graduate who has spent the last three years at Chelsea.

"I felt as if I had never left, just as though I had been on a long holiday and come back," he said after the impressive 3-0 win.

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"I was delighted with the reception I got from the fans and it filled me with confidence. They know I love the club.

"It was my first full game in a while and it was hard for me but the team I had alongside me made my job pretty simple.

"We didn't win because of me but because of the 100 per cent effort that everyone put into the game.

"It is always fantastic to score on your debut but it was a relief because we knew we needed a quick second goal to make the game more comfortable and the three points were important to put us up towards the top of the table.

Trigger

"The reason I came back was to help push the club in the direction everyone wants it to go and I think we showed what a good team we could be."

Wright-Phillips hopes that Fabio Capello was watching closely and believes regular football will be the trigger to him finding his way back into the England squad.

"Hopefully what I do here will help me further my ambitions for England. If I play well then that side of things takes care of itself really," he said.

Next up for the Blues is SWP's `holiday' team Chelsea but he claims not to have troubled himself with future engagements.

"I am not thinking about that but if we play the way we did yesterday then we will cause anyone problems," he said.

"What I am really looking forward to is playing back at Eastlands with the whole crowd behind me and the team and pushing us on to great things.

"I realise the historical significance of the number eight shirt and relish the responsibility of wearing it."

Contribution

Hughes praised the outstanding contribution of £9m man Wright-Phillips.

"I thought we were excellent from start to finish after a tough week in Europe," said the boss.

"In the end it was comfortable and the new formation was effective but that was in a large part down to Jo who led the line so well.

"Shaun wrote his own story and it was fantastic for him because he worked so hard for the team. The goals just topped off a great performance from him and the team."

Hughes admits he will be busy on transfer deadline day today looking for quality signings despite the big spending Blues having doubled their South American contingent with the arrival of Pablo Zabaleta from Espanyol and Glauber Berti from FC Nuremburg.

The Blues have paid around £6.5m for Olympic gold medal winning right-back Zabaleta taking their summer spree on six new faces to around £44m.

The transfer activity marks a dramatic financial turn around from early in the summer when they borrowed an additional £30m to keep them afloat.

The loosening of the purse strings is perhaps an indicator that there is some major investment in the pipeline with Saudi royal Prince Mohammed bin Faisal the latest mega rich middle-east resident to be linked with City.

A group from the Emirates are also in the frame but the huge dilemma for owner Dr Thaksin Shinawatra is that they want to take over the club rather than invest while the controversial ex-Thai prime minister has been consistent in his determination to stay in control.

Although the `in' door has been busier than the `exit' at Carrington, Hughes accepts that there may be a departure or two before the deadline.

The player most likely to go is Vedran Corluka who pointedly gave his shirt away and waved, head bowed, to City fans at the final whistle at the Stadium of Light. Spurs remains the most likely destination for £8m.

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