BOSS: ‘BLUES STARS STILL NOT FIT’

CITY are not yet as fit as Pep Guardiola wants them to be.

The champions sit top of the Premier League after two games following comfortable wins over Arsenal and Huddersfield.

But the Blues manager says the squad is still suffering from having 16 players involved at the World Cup, with Fernandinho singled out as having struggled this week.

“The problem for us is we are not far away but we are still not fit,” said the manager.

“We see how much effort was spent by the players, normally the regeneration is quicker and they need more time because we didn’t make a pre-season.

“They arrived and immediately played the Community Shield and the Arsenal game. A few players are much better but we need more time to win power and strength, we need to train strength.

“This week we tried to do a lot of messages about strength and tactics because when there will be three games a week we will not have time to do that.

“Still, players complain about muscular problems. That’s why Claudio is out and Kevin and this week Dinho had a few problems with regeneration after the game but that is normal - we demand a lot.

“We are still not in the best condition, that’s why we have to take points and hopefully after the international break we can be better and better.”

City special: Pages 49-51