City beat Sunderland with a solid 3-0 win over Martin O’Neill’s side - recording a long-awaited first clean sheet in the process.
“The games have gone both for and against us so far this season and whenever you come off a bad result, like Wednesday’s, you need a reaction from top players and that’s exactly what we got today,” said Platt.
“We needed that second goal to settle us down a little bit, at 1-0 even though we were controlling the game we knew that there was always a risk.
“When you have a little bit of daylight, the fear factor is gone and we played with a bit more freedom after that second goal.”
Micah Richards came back into the starting eleven in place of Vincent Kompany, with the skipper sitting out with a mild calf strain and Platt was quick to calm any fears that the captain will be missing for long.
“There were seven changes, some of them because, as Roberto said before the game, we had literally 48/60 hours to rest since Wednesday and others were forced on us – Kompany with a slight calf strain, Nastasic with a slight ankle strain and Javi Garcia with his thigh,” Platt revealed.
“We thought he had a chance when he picked it up in the last game but it was the right decision to leave him out – it’s not a huge calf strain.
“I’m delighted with the clean sheet – more happy for Joe and the team – I think last week, not to dwell on it but in effect, we kept a clean sheet at Fulham as it was never a penalty in our eyes.”
The former England international played down any talk that City had been struggling so far this season, suggesting that reports of the Blues’ demise had been greatly exaggerated.
“We haven’t been stuttering as much as people want to make out – we’re in a decent position Chelsea have flown away like we did last season but we’re there or thereabouts,” he declared.
“If you draw parallels between these fixtures last season… against these teams, today actually puts ahead of the total we got last year.”
Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill had no complaints with the scoreline, admitting his team were soundly defeated.
“We were well beaten by a superior team, I have very little complaint except with my own team,” said O’Neill.
“We could have been in more trouble after the first half but we attacked rather too infrequently, the second goal was vital and it gave them the chance to show all their skills.
“They deserved to beat us, they were much, much better than us.”
