Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has admitted that he is "grateful" to have been given the opportunity to spark his career back into life at the Etihad Stadium.
Sterling, who netted the winner in City's 1-0 Premier League triumph over Wolves on Saturday lunchtime — to score his 100th Premier League goal — has started each of the last five Premier League matches, scoring three and registering one assist.
Prior to this run, the England international had started just three of City's opening 11 league matches this season, highlighting that he has forced his way back into manager Pep Guardiola's plans.
Back in October, Sterling admitted that he would be open to leaving City if his game time did not increase, with the former Liverpool man becoming frustrated by the lack of opportunities coming his way early in the campaign.
Having forced his way back into the fold and delivered the goods in recent weeks, Sterling believes he remains a player that can bring something to the table for City.
"I am a player that likes to feel that they can help their team and I am really grateful to have this run in the side so I can do just that," Sterling said.
"We have got two, top players in each position that play for their national team, so there are loads of challenges."
His match-winning strike against Wolves saw him reach a century of Premier League goals, proving that he can continue to be a big player for City and Guardiola moving forward.
On reaching the landmark, Sterling said: "It is great to join a really lovely club, so I am really happy. As soon as I saw the referee point to the spot, I picked my place and went for it.
"It was really nice to see it go in. I have come to realise that once I have a decision [on where I want to put the ball], then stick with it.
"Then, it is just about execution. I have been practicing so it was good to see it come off. It is a nice achievement to get to, but the most important thing today was the win and I am just happy to help the team."
His penalty was enough to seal a fourth consecutive Premier League victory for the Blues and see off a Wolves side that threatened to take a share of the spoils back to the Midlands.
"Wolves are always a difficult team to play against in the past couple of seasons," Sterling added. "They are always a tough game, even with 10 men.
"They are really together and their spirit is really good so we always find it difficult. They are always difficult to breakdown, they are really compact and we found it difficult again today.
"You have these types of games over the season and it is just about sticking with it. Not every game is going to be as nice as we would like to be, but sometimes you have to dig deep and that is how you build championships."
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