“Even back then when I wasn’t playing at Villa as much as I wanted I was still doing the hard graft behind the scenes and even staying behind to do extra sessions. Hopefully, that’s all paying off now.
“That feels like a long, long time ago – a world away. Football goes so quickly. You look back and you don’t know where the time has gone. That stage of my career was very tough.
“But you need to go through periods like that. Now I don’t think about it – I haven’t looked back since.
“What happened then made me stronger as a person. It made me even hungrier and made me want to play regularly again.
“I’ve come here and I’m loving every moment. Not only am I playing every week and scoring, but we’re winning games, as well.”
Sinclair added: “I had played the best football of my career under Brendan Rodgers at Swansea and then there was a massive gap where I hadn’t shown what I can do.
“Now after reuniting with him, I’m back to my best form. He was the reason I got the move to Manchester City and a lot of people seemed to forget that.
“I won promotion with Swansea and played for a season in the Premier League with them. I did well enough to earn the right to join City.
“So, it’s nice to be back with a manager who likes you, supports you and essentially gives you the confidence to go out there and play.
“The No.1 thing is I’m enjoying my football again. People might keep comparing playing in the Premier League to playing here, but the main thing for me is how much I’m enjoying playing.
“And the manager has high expectations, which is great. He pushes you every day, in every training session and every game.
