Man City boss Pep Guardiola confirms harm blow to a different key midfielder with star dominated out for as much as a month
- Pep Guardiola spoke to the media on the eve of Man City’s game with Tottenham
- City boss Guardiola revealed that Mateo Kovacic would be out for up to a month
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola delivered mixed news on the injury front on the eve of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur.
Already without star midfielder Rodri for the rest of the season and Oscar Bobb until next year, Guardiola revealed on Friday that Mateo Kovacic would now be sidelined for up to a month.
However, Guardiola also claimed that John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake were all in with a chance of being fit to face Spurs at the Etihad Stadium.
‘Some of them [could be available], yes,’ said Guardiola. ‘John trained good, Manu trained good. Nathan is coming back to training, so we didn’t have any centre backs and now we have three.
‘Ruben [Dias] is out but hopefully back soon. Some players recover better.
‘These 10 days some players recovered a little. I don’t know if they are ready to play 90 minutes or play from the beginning but to see the training session and see their faces was a really good boost for all of us.’
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had mixed news on the injury front on Friday
City midfielder Mateo Kovacic is set to be out of action for between three weeks and a month
On Kovacic, Guardiola added: ‘He will be a while – three weeks or a month. More or less.
‘Max Alleyne is not fit as well was injured from national team – England U20 – because they push our limits and come back injured.
‘Players go to the national team and train – U21 in the morning – afternoon with U20 after training two games, He us not fit, we will lose him. It is what it is.’
It is also understood that Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish are in contention for City’s game against Spurs, although Guardiola did not mention them directly on Friday.
Kovacic had emerged as a key man for City in a holding midfield role after Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September.
The former Chelsea ace has featured in 15 of City’s first 18 matches this season.
He also played twice for Croatia during the recent international break. Kovacic lasted the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 defeat by Scotland before being subbed off at half-time during a 1-1 draw with Portugal.
