I left out Aguero for his own safety as busy schedule begins: Guardiola

SERGIO Aguero would have been ruled out for a month or more had he played against Bournemouth, according to Pep Guardiola.

The Manchester City manager left his top scorer out of Saturday’s 3-1 win at the Etihad — courtesy of goals from Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan, with Callum Wilson’s effort proving a consolation — as he begins to contend with a busy Christmas schedule.

Aguero picked up a muscle injury last week and though the full extent of the problem is not yet known, the 30-year-old remains doubtful for tomorrow’s trip to Watford.

Guardiola suggested he could have played Aguero against Bournemouth, though doing so would have risked a lengthy layoff of up to five weeks.

With a busy December ahead, and a trip to Stamford Bridge on the horizon, the City manager did not feel he could risk the Argentine.

“I don’t know. Right now, I’m not quite sure,” Guardiola said when asked about Aguero’s availability for tomorrow night. “That’s why I have said before that we will see day by day.

“I speak with doctors every day, they make a report and a briefing. They say ‘ready’ or ‘not ready’ and we decide.

“If he played (against Bournemouth), he would be out for maybe four or five weeks. In that situation this month, with a lot of games, he was not safe.

“It’s going to happen in the future, the next games. People will start to get tired in games. That’s why we have a deep squad.”

Like all other top-flight clubs, City face nine Premier League fixtures over the course of the next month, culminating in a top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool on January 3.

City also have their final Champions League group stage game against Hoffenheim to contend with, as well as an EFL Cup quarter-final against Leicester.

To combat the inevitable fatigue, Guardiola advised his players to do the basics — eat well, sleep well, and drink “in a good way, no wine”.

The City manager stopped short, however, of complaining about his side’s schedule, despite saying last year that the festive fixture pile-up will “kill” players.

“It is what it is. Adapt,” he said. “We have a deep squad, some players in the second team, we are going to play 11 and everybody has to do their best.

“We play nine games, but many of our contenders and opponents do too. It’s not because we play more than the other ones. It’s the same, so why should we complain? Play every day, try to be there and play the game.” Watching brief: Sergio Aguero sat out win over Bournemouth