Pep Guardiola has provided an upbeat update on three Manchester City players ahead of Saturday's Premier League match against Brighton & Hove Albion.
On Friday, Manchester city manager Pep Guardiola mentioned three England internationals. John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are all expected to be fit for the World Cup.
The England international (John Stones) has been out for more than a month with a hamstring injury but the former Everton centre-back was spotted back in training on Thursday.
“I didn’t speak with the doctors about Kyle. Hopefully it can happen and, if selected, he can make the [England] squad,” said Pep
“John is training with us and tomorrow is in the list. Kalvin is incredibly much better as well. He is recovering really well.” He added
Guardiola also dismissed talk of City having an advantage for the game because they were the only Premier League team not in action during the week, while Brighton drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest.
“One advantage in seven years, it’s not a problem,” he opined. “This will not be a difference. We are used to playing until the end of competitions in the last six years. The teams who don’t play in Europe always have an advantage compared to teams who play in Europe.
“If you take this point, we could not win the games because they were better, they will rest. This is not important, it’s important to be ready mentally, rest a lot to prepare [for] the game. Normally we play in games and the other ones have more time to rest. Do we complain? Never. It is what it is. When we play against Arsenal other teams will rest and we are going to play the game.”
