Pep Lijnders took over Manchester City’s press conference duties on Friday, with Pep Guardiola absent due to a “personal matter”. Though the latter should be in the dugout against Tottenham Hotspur.
Lijnders started by giving us an update on Jeremy Doku (calf).
“It’s a similar injury as the last one. Only at that time it was on the outside, on the lateral side, now it is on the centre. The last time it took 18 days. I presume this one will be a little bit shorter. It’s in the middle one, so we have to take time, but Jeremy is a robust player. So, we’ll see.” – Pep Lijnders on Jeremy Doku
The Man City coach also provided us with the latest on Ruben Dias (hamstring).
“What I can say about Ruben is that he will come back Monday in team training.” – Pep Lijnders
John Stones (thigh), Josko Gvardiol (leg), Mateo Kovacic (ankle) and Savinho (thigh) are all still sidelined, while Oscar Bobb has moved on to Fulham.
At least they’ll be able to count on Marc Guéhi and Antoine Semenyo, who were ineligible to face Galatasaray. Rodri sat out that game through suspension and is available now, too.
Meanwhile, away from injuries, Lijnders gave us his thoughts on Erling Haaland‘s form.
“The first months [of the season], we spoke all the time about Erling, how decisive he was. The mentality sets him apart, in my opinion, because for a striker, the most important thing is always the next ball, the next moment, the next situation. It’s about having this confidence that that will come and we know all his quality, how he can be in the box, with his head, with his feet, with his left, with his right. The scruffy goals, as well.
“It’s for him to keep believing that it comes and yeah, it’s so important that he finished off [the chance on Wednesday]. It shows quality, in that situation, the moment we were in, to put that ball over the goalkeeper. Pure quality, I would say. But we need him in good spirits, as all our front players, because only when you smile, only when you laugh, you can score these goals.” – Pep Lijnders on Erling Haaland
defensive contributions