**Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is expecting Nathan Ake to be out of action for 10-11 weeks after undergoing foot surgery.**
After recent wins over Tottenham and Plymouth Argyle, City face Nottingham Forest in a top-four Premier League clash at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Nathan Ake was hauled off at half-time in City’s 3-1 FA Cup fifth-round win over Argyle last week – and the Dutchman underwent surgery on his knee in the days that followed.
A recent post on Ake’s social media channels and Manchester City’s official account has confirmed that the centre back will be on the sidelines as he focuses on rehabilitation.
Ahead of a trip to Nottingham on Saturday, Guardiola confirmed that Ake will be away from action for 10-11 weeks as the City boss awaits the return of the former Bournemouth man.
“When you go to surgery, it’s because it’s something wrong that happened. But what is important is it’s done. He’s struggled a lot this season with problems in his feet and it’s happened,” the 54-year-old said in a press conference on Friday.
Ake’s absence and the recent injury issues that have marred Manchester City’s season are likely to see January signing Abdukodir Khusanov partner Ruben Dias in central defence against Nottingham Forest.
Josko Gvardiola continues to operate at left-back and Vitor Reis has been used scarcely by Guardiola with a desire to let the Brazilian to develop physically and spend further time training with the first-team before he can become a starting player.
City can pick up a third straight win on Saturday and Guardiola will know there is little margin for error between now and the end of the season for the four-in-a-row Premier League champions in their bid to finish in the top four.