Manchester City manager Kolo Toure spoke about Pep Guardiola and injuries to two Manchester City players
Rodri and Pep Guardiola
Kolo Toure confirmed that Pep Guardiola will be in the Manchester City dugout on Sunday and expects two players to return soon. The Manchester City assistant was on media duties for a rare outing in a press conference – the first time he has spoken to reporters since he was appointed as first team coach in the summer
Toure does not expect to be in the hotseat again and is ready for Guardiola to return to lead the preparations for the Palace game when the team are back in the building on Saturday. The Blues will then head down to Selhurst Park as they aim to stay within touching distance of Premier League leaders Arsenal.
“Pep is fine, it’s just a small matter so we didn’t bring him here but apart from that everything is fine. He’ll be back for sure [for the Palace game],” said Toure. Fellow assistant Pep Lijnders will also be part of the group.
Toure also gave promising updates on John Stones and Rodri. The pair are two of three players currently sidelined; Rodri has been missing for the last six weeks while Stones suffered a thigh injury before the Sunderland game and did not travel to Madrid in the week.
“The players are off today and tomorrow when everybody comes back we will know more about the players. I think it was his (Stones’) thigh that he had a problem with,” said Toure. “It wasn’t something too big, I think he’ll be back soon. Rodri is training really well and he looks sharper and sharper every day we see him. I don’t think we’re going to see him for the weekend but he’s in the process.”
City took advantage of a rare defeat for Arsenal last weekend as they beat Sunderland to move two points off top spot in the league. However, with the Gunners playing 20th-placed Wolves it will take another excellent performance for the Blues to pick up three points at Palace and keep up the pressure on the leaders.
“For us, we just focus on what we can do. We know the quality of Arsenal, they have a really strong squad with a fantastic manager but it’s all down to us. We have the best manager in the world doing an incredible job every day.
“His passion for the game, he loves his players, he loves his staff and we know that he will take us as far as we can to win that league and for us we just focus on what we can do really. We cannot focus on what Arsenal is doing. Every game is like a final for us.”
