Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke on the fitness of his players ahead of their Premier League game with Everton
Rodri has not recovered from the injury he picked up at Brentford
Rodri has not recovered from the injury he picked up at Brentford
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Manchester City could be missing five players for the Everton game as Pep Guardiola assesses his options.
The Blues returned from the international break on Thursday but Rodri was not present after the injury he picked up at Brentford. The Spanish midfielder had to be substituted with a hamstring problem at Brentford and while he hoped to be fit for the Everton game it has come too soon for him to feature.
Abdukodir Khusanov is also a doubt after not being present in training. He suffered an injury against Arsenal last month and is working his way back to full fitness.
Mateo Kovacic should be in the squad, having made the last three matchdays following the Achilles surgery that kept him out of the beginning of the campaign. However, he has not yet kicked a ball for the Blues this season and Guardiola warned that his return would have to come one step at a time.
"It's a good news, starting for 50, 60 minutes [for Croatia]," the manager said. "Step by step; he has to now give us quality moments, quality time, quality minutes.
"But step by step, it's important that he's back."
There are also question marks over Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush. Neither have played for City since August following their respective injuries and both were pencilled in for the Everton fixture.
They trained on Thursday and will hope to be included for the game with Everton, but Guardiola could not say definitively that they would be ready.
"They trained yesterday and they are much better," he said. "They are close to coming back."
City take on Everton on Saturday before travelling to Spain on Monday for their Champions League match at Villarreal on Tuesday.
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