Dias insists City weren’t a weakened side at Villa

RUBEN Dias brushed off the idea City were under-strength against Aston Villa as they dug out a 2-1 victory that continues their fine form.

Pep Guardiola was given a selection headache ahead of the trip when Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones and Kyle Walker were all ruled out to join Kevin de Bruyne and Ferran Torres on the sidelines.

Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were only fit enough for the bench, where they sat alongside two goalkeepers and five academy players that had all featured in an Under-23s game on Monday night.

If the options from the bench were severely limited - the only substitution was Grealish in the 87th minute - Fernandinho, Nathan Ake and Aleks Zinchenko all merited their inclusion in the starting XI as Guardiola’s side combined a sensational first half with a solid second period to hold on for another three points.

As far as Dias was concerned, City had a full team out against Villa.

”It is a mission for the teams to have everyone available every time. Whenever that doesn’t happen it is a moment in which we need to be extra focused and extra ready,” the centre-back said.

“Obviously we want everyone available every time to make the best decisions possible but the team showed that we are a team in every sense of the word.

“It is a very important win, especially with the way we played. If anyone thought that we didn’t have our full team, I think the team answered that. Whoever plays, we have a full team.

“That’s who we are, that’s what our team is made of.

“Big shout out to everyone because to come here and perform how we did is a demonstration of how we work, no exceptions.

“The bigger the challenge the bigger the wins. We love that. It is what we are here for. It is a very important win against a team that are on fire under a new manager.”