**Manchester City have sustained a fresh injury blow to their rearguard following the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday evening, it has been confirmed.**
The Premier League champions brought an end to their seven-game winless streak with a largely convincing victory over the impressive Nottingham Forest at home this week thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku.
The outing as a whole brought a number of notable changes to Pep Guardiola’s system as Jack Grealish operated centrally in an attacking midfield role, whilst Ruben Dias was granted license to roam forward with the ball into offensive areas of Nottingham Forest’s half.
However, one ever-present was the fitness concerns for Pep Guardiola, who has now been struck with further damage to his defensive unit in a week where he must have been relieved that his centre-back contingent had returned to full strength.
Speaking after Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night, Pep Guardiola admitted that whilst there are concerns over Nathan Ake’s injury more than Manuel Akanji’s, a clear timeframe on their recovery processes remains unknown at this stage.
“I don’t know. We’ll see tomorrow (Thursday). But unfortunately… he’s a really, really important player,” Guardiola said on Ake. He continued, “It doesn’t look good, we’ll see tomorrow. Manu has struggled a lot over the last two months. I thank them for the effort.”
The City boss went on to explain during his post-match conference, “I was sad for Nathan, but we’ll see. I think with Manu maybe not Selhurst Park \[against Crystal Palace\], we’ll see, I don’t know in Turin \[against Juventus\] or next games. But we’ll see. Nathan I think will be longer.”
Offering a brief insight into the recovery of Phil Foden, who missed the midweek contest through bronchitis, Pep Guardiola said, “When he has no fever and has recovered, he will be ready.”
Manchester City’s head coach will return to media duties on Friday afternoon when he previews his side’s next game against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, as the club hopes to build on their confidence-boosting return to winning ways.
The latest injury problems to Ake and Akanji means that Pep Guardiola only has two central defensive options at his disposal, with Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol emerging fully-fit from the midweek clash with Forest.
Joining the former pair on the treatment table is also John Stones, alongside Mateo Kovacic, Rodri, and Oscar Bobb, with the latter duo expected to make returns midway through and during the early stages of 2025 respectively.