Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Wednesday’s Carabao Cup game against Brentford at Etihad Stadium (kick-off 19:30 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
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Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush have now departed for Afcon, while John Stones and Rodri remain sidelined. Jeremy Doku is set to miss “for two to three weeks”.
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Goalkeeper James Trafford “is going to play” in the cup game as Guardiola hinted there will be high squad rotation. He said: “All the players who didn’t play [at Crystal Palace on Sunday] are going to play, plus some from the academy.”
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He said he has “to see with the physios and the doctors” who can be available because there was little recovery time and Saturday’s game against West Ham “is so, so important”.
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On it being an opportunity for other players: “They are good, they are top. The problem against Bayer Leverkusen is that we missed a father figure on the pitch. There are players where it is not about the quality, it is that some players still don’t have the courage for the process.”
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Expanding on what he means by that, Guardiola added: “It is a lesson I learned that we have to find a balance, but of course there are players without minutes.”
Listen to commentary of Man City v Brentford at 19:30 on Wednesday on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
