The time was right for goalkeeper John Ruddy to return to first team duty, admitted City manager Chris Hughton, after the England international's first Premier League outing for nearly six months.

Ruddy was recalled at the expense of Mark Bunn and although he was not overworked, he looked as if he had never been away, keeping his sixth clean sheet of the season.

Hughton argued that Bunn's form had made it difficult to leave him out even though Ruddy was fit and available.

'I have to take advice from what is an extremely good goalkeeping coach we have, and we just felt this was a little bit different,' he said.

'With Bunny coming in, we've been delighted with him. There are always going to be goals you look at where you think perhaps could he have done better, would John have done better?

'But overall we've been delighted with Bunny and if we hadn't been, we perhaps would have taken that chance to put John in a little earlier.'