Team news from City | Defensive boost for Guardiola

Pep Guardiola's defensive options have been boosted ahead of our Premier League clash at the Etihad on Saturday (5.30pm).

The City boss told the media earlier on Friday that John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake could all come back into the frame after injury.

Asked for a squad update and if players could be available, Pep said: “Some of them, yes. 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."

However, it's not all good news for the champions - Guardiola reported that midfielder Mateo Kovacic could be out for 'three weeks or a month', alongside fellow midfielders Ruban Dias and longer-term, recently-crowded Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. Winger Oscar Bobb is also out longer-term.

City's official website also report that Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish have all trained this week after withdrawing from international duty.

“These 10 days some players recovered a little," added Guardiola. "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.”