Guardiola coy on injury as Manchester derby looms

IF PEP GUARDIOLA wanted to focus on his team’s final Champions League group tie tonight rather than this weekend’s Manchester derby, the absence of David Silva here in Ukraine made that rather difficult. Guardiola confirmed Silva has not travelled to Kharkiv after feeling discomfort in the win over West Ham on Sunday. The fact he could not — or would not — specify the problem only added to the mystery surrounding Silva’s fitness for the derby. Was Guardiola playing games with Jose Mourinho? City have already won Group F, so Silva will by no means be the only absentee this evening. ‘I don’t know if he’ll be able to play on Sunday. That’s why he stayed to recover,’ said Guardiola, who denied reports in Spain that City offered an £80million signing-on fee to Lionel Messi before he agreed a new deal at Barcelona. Pressed on what Silva’s problem is, Guardiola added: