Pep Guardiola claimed Manchester City were in trouble after they suffered further injuries in a 2-1 loss at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup to leave them with only 13 first-team players available.
Already without Kyle Walker, Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish for the fourth-round tie, Manuel Akanji was withdrawn ahead of kick-off before Savinho left on a stretcher in the second half.
Guardiola was measured after first-half goals by Timo Werner – his first in 18 matches – and Pape Sarr inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on City, but he acknowledged problems are mounting before Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth, which is followed by a Champions League fixture at Sporting Lisbon. “We have 13 players (available) so we are in real difficulty,” Guardiola said. “The guys that play, they finish most of them with problems and we’ll see how they recover. “I think when we are in trouble, like we are because in nine years it never happen this situation with many, many injuries for many, many reasons, in these situations, the players they make a step forward and they are more together than ever and they will try to do this week in this short time to recover. “It’s tough.
Akanji yesterday, I didn’t know it, in the last action felt something in the muscular part of his body and today in the warm-up he didn’t feel good.