City hoping for trio return against Tottenham
MANCHESTER City Manager Pep Guardiola says Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, and John Stones are all in contention for their English Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon.
Centre half Dias has been out of action since sustaining a hamstring injury while representing Portugal at the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar late last year.
Fellow central defender Stones meanwhile missed both last Saturday’s Premier League derby at Manchester United, and their preceding Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at Southampton.
The duo haven’t figured together for City since last September, but they were pictured back in training during Tuesday’s latest workout though midfielder De Bruyne was absent from the session.
But addressing the media at his pre-match press conference, Guardiola provided a positive update on the trio.
In terms of De Bruyne, Guardiola said, “He had a personal issue and was not training [on Tuesday]. Today [Wednesday] he is back.
“They [Stones and Dias] are back. In the last two training sessions, they have trained really well and they are in contention.”
City will be looking to get back to winning ways after Saturday’s 2-1 derby defeat at Old Trafford.
That result, coupled with Arsenal’s win over Spurs extended the Gunners lead at the top of the table to eight points.
But Guardiola says his only priority looking ahead to today was overcoming the challenge of Antonio Conte’s side.
“It’s not about what happened against United,” he said. “It’s not about the table. It’s about Spurs. Always they have been a tough opponent for us.
“For the quality all the years and this year is not an exception. Of course, the important thing is to win the game.”