Kevin De Bruyne says he is playing without pressure after an impressive first start for Manchester City.

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Although the Premier League leaders went down 2-1 to West Ham on Saturday for their first league loss of the season – ending an 11-match record winning run – the Belgian showed some of the brilliance that persuaded the club to pay Wolfsburg a record £55 million (Dh313.7m) for him.

After two substitute appearances, and with David Silva ruled out after aggravating a calf injury in the warm-up, De Bruyne was finally given centre stage and stole the show for the hosts.

Pin-point passing was complemented by confidence on the ball, a willingness to track back defensively, and a rasping shot for his first goal after City had gone 2-0 down.

And De Bruyne, 24, said: “I feel good. Obviously, I am adapting well to the team. It is just the beginning so I don’t feel any pressure. I just try to play my game.

“I’m looking forward to playing with David. I can only get better if I play with great players and this team has a lot of great players. I think when I know the team a bit better I will get even more of the ball.

“I’m happy with the way I’ve started. I need to do a lot to settle in, but the club is helping and I don’t feel any pressure.

“I can play the three positions in attack. I did the same at Wolfsburg and the teams before. Obviously even if I am on the 10, I change so much the position. I think you need to do that if you play against teams like West Ham who are defending with nine men.

“I don’t think we played a bad game, but we started badly. These games happen. When they won the first five league games maybe the ball went easily into the net. You’ll have games when it’s more difficult. You don’t have to worry, these days will happen during the season.”

De Bruyne admits he has joined City to win trophies and that includes the League Cup, where they begin their challenge with a tough third-round trip to struggling Sunderland on Tuesday.

“We want to do well in all the competitions,” he added. “It won’t be easy at Sunderland but we have to get a win over there.” City boss Manuel Pellegrini was loathe to single out De Bruyne for praise, nor criticise Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling for below-par displays.

“I don’t analyse individual performances,” he said. But while he demanded better concentration from his defence, he knows what he needs after successive home defeats to Juventus in the Champions League and then the Hammers.

“To score,” he added. “We had 27 attempts in the whole game and we only scored one goal.”

Having now beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and City on their travels and sitting third, West Ham boss Slaven Bilic says “hopefully” they can finish in the top four, and the work ethic of players such as former Al Jazira star Manuel Lanzini and Dimtri Payet was a key factor.

“Payet and Lanzini, they fight for the team and they are running at the end,” he said. “It is not common for those type of players to do that. They like to be more flashy. That is why we are winning games.”