De Jong looks to home comforts

Nigel de Jong was a frustrated onlooker at the Arena Hamburg as Manchester City FC failed to capitalise on a dream start to their UEFA Cup quarter-final tie at his former team Hamburger SV, though he insists all is not lost after a 3-1 defeat.

Ineligible
De Jong spent three years with the Hanseaten before moving to City for a reported €19.5m in January, departing Germany with the promise that he "would always keep the [HSV] diamond in my heart". That did not stop the defensive midfielder, who is ineligible for UEFA Cup duty with City having played in Hamburg's first-round win against Romanian side AFC Unirea Urziceni, sharing insight about his former team-mates with his new ones after the fates conspired to pair the teams. "Hamburg are having a good season and I'm happy for them," he said. "But I'm hoping I will go through with my team, and that's Manchester City.

Rousing reception
"I played [at Hamburg] for three years and know everybody. It's a shame I wasn't on the pitch, though, because I'd love to have some battles with them." The Dutchman did actually get on to the turf, as he and the injured Vincent Kompany were presented gifts by their former employers before kick-off and received a rousing reception from the 50,500-capacity crowd. "It showed a great respect and gives me a great feeling because I had some good years here," De Jong told uefa.com. "But still, I now play for Manchester City so I have to turn the switch on and keep focused on Manchester City."

Away goal
How Mark Hughes could have done with the Dutch international playing a more active role as the Blues were on the back foot after taking a first-minute lead through Stephen Ireland. Goals from Joris Mathijsen, Piotr Trochowski and substitute José Paolo Guerrero earned the hosts a 3-1 win, leaving City with it all to do in next Thursday's second leg. "It was a difficult game," admitted De Jong. "But we have to keep our heads held high as we still have a game to play at home. We have to keep positive. [The third goal] could be crucial, but so could the away goal. We can get a good result in the second leg because we are strong at home, especially this season."

Rost caution
The English side's form at the City of Manchester Stadium means Hamburg can not rest easy just yet. While defeat on Thursday left Hughes' side with just one win in 20 away games, they have won their last six Premier League matches on home turf. HSV goalkeeper Frank Rost, who made a pivotal save to deny Craig Bellamy with the score at 1-1, is taking nothing for granted. "We excelled ourselves again and could have won by more," he said. "But we still haven't won anything. It was a beautiful victory, but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves."