It helped of course that two of the other seven changes that Maresca made were to bring Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez back into the team. Having £241m worth of talent sitting in front of the defence will help any game, and Anderson nodded in the opening goal in the 12th minute when Fernandez's free-kick had bounced back into play off the crossbar.

The free-kick was won by Samba though, who had won the ball back 35 yards from goal and then driven at the defence with purpose. When Foden and Rico Lewis combined well for Stockport's finest to score a second before half-time, it brought more smiles from academy staff.

Foden pushed his teammate towards the fans to get acclaim for his part in the goal, but this showing could prove crucial for the 26-year-old going forwards. He was already in his version of hell when the guilty verdict was dropped on the club, in the middle of a month with no football following his red card at Old Trafford, but has responded in the right way.

This fixture hadn't captured the imagination of home fans after the defiance shown since the verdict, and a stadium high attendance achieved at the weekend was followed by a ground that was barely more than half full. The night risked falling flat when sloppy City play early in the second half allowed Stavros Pilios to halve the deficit.

But City stepped up after that, with a quality goal from Rayan Cherki followed by an even better combination from Lewis and Foden before the latter completed his hat-trick. As with so many of City's performances this season, it may not have been perfect but they did enough to win.

Those three points put the Blues back on track in the Champions League and with Haaland and others rested it keeps Maresca with options for Aston Villa on Saturday. The manager's boldness was rewarded and there are signs of greater rewards to come.

The world may be waiting for City to be sent tumbling down with whatever punishment awaits them should their 115 appeal fail, but in the meantime Foden's confidence is shooting up after breaking a 10-month goal drought with four in two games. He even had Haaland on his feet.