'Players playing in pain' - Guardiola on injury 'emergency'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said adjacent acceptable players are successful symptom arsenic they propulsion done the fixture docket and his squad present faces an wounded "emergency".

Guardiola said helium has doubts implicit respective players for Saturday's travel to Bournemouth aft suffering problems successful Wednesday's 2-1 EFL Cup decision astatine Tottenham.

Savinho went disconnected connected a stretcher with an ankle injury, portion Manuel Akanji injured his calf successful the warm-up.

After the game, Guardiola said helium had conscionable 13 acceptable players with semipermanent absentees successful Rodri and Oscar Bobb, and wounded concerns implicit Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Akanji and Josko Gvardiol.

On Friday helium did not accidental who could instrumentality for the travel to Bournemouth saying helium had "many doubts" but confirmed Brazil winger Savinho had not suffered a fracture.

After Bournemouth, City person a Champions League travel to Portugal to look Ruben Amorim’s Sporting and past question to look Brighton.

“Today, astir each of the players play with pain,” said Guardiola.

“There are moments erstwhile you person to beryllium cautious but sometimes you person to play. You person to woody with it successful modern shot oregon you can’t prolong games each 3 days astatine a apical club.”

Guardiola utilized the illustration of 22-times Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal to show it is not conscionable footballers who are pushing their bodies to the limit.

“Rafa played each of his vocation with pain,” helium said. “He played and won I don’t cognize however galore Grand Slams.”

Guardiola besides said helium was turning to academy players, adding: "We are utilizing them due to the fact that we are successful an exigency successful definite positions."

Playmaker De Bruyne is 1 of the City stars presently sidelines.

De Bruyne has not featured since injuring his thigh against Inter Milan implicit six weeks agone and earlier this week, Guardiola painted a bleak representation astir De Bruyne’s apt comeback date.

However, present the quality is much optimistic.

“He’s getting better,” Guardiola said. “The past 2 oregon 3 days the doc said helium made a large measurement guardant successful presumption of pain.”

In the aftermath of the nonaccomplishment astatine Tottenham, Guardiola reflected connected City’s archetypal decision since the FA Cup final, saying for the Wembley brushwood with Manchester United his broadside were "a small spot hungover" pursuing their Premier League rubric celebrations the erstwhile weekend.

Asked astir the comments connected Friday, Guardiola pulled back.

“It was a joke,” helium said.

“After winning the Premier League, we had to observe it, different what is the consciousness of [playing] 11 months to triumph it. My guys are truly bully connected the pitch, but disconnected the transportation they are truly bully too.”

“But of people we were ready. They [United] bushed america fairly.”