Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe says it was "impossible" for Jack Wilshere to have an impact in the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.
The Premier League leaders controlled the majority of the game, leaving Wilshere to spend much of his time in his own half, and Howe declined to place blame, though the midfielder conceded the free kick from which De Bruyne scored the first goal.
"It was difficult for Jack because we want to see him in the final third and he didn't get there enough," Howe told the Daily Echo. "It was impossible to see his best qualities, but the minutes will do him good and once he understands how we want to play, he will be an important player for us.
"You can't blame one individual. As a team, we didn't function and didn't give our attacking players any scope to get into the game because we were penned in our half. It's very difficult for creative players when that is the case.
"We said when we signed Jack we wanted to get him in the opposition's half and see his creative ability. If you put him in [City's] team you would obviously see a different performance from him."
Wilshere is expected to be in the starting lineup against in the EFL Cup against Preston on Tuesday, and assistant manager Jason Tindall said he welcomes the chance for Bournemouth to put their heavy defeat to Manchester City behind them.
Tindall said: "Both teams are coming into the game off the back of a heavy defeat.
"We certainly see the cup competitions as a help, not a hindrance. We have a lot of good players available and it will be good to give them minutes.
"We see it as a trophy to win, we want to go as far as we can in the competition and that's what we're looking to do in a tough game tomorrow night."
City manager Pep Guardiola described Bournemouth as "until now the best [opposing] team with the ball", despite a one-sided win secured by goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan.
And Tindall added: "It was a disappointing result on our behalf. We weren't at our best against probably one of the best teams in the world right now.
"Pep Guardiola's comments were a nice compliment but we would rather have taken some points away from the game.
"In my opinion he's the best manager in the world and they're the team to beat, but the game is now at the back of our minds for the time being and we're fully focused on Preston and progressing in the cup."