Cole Palmer tweaks training regime in bid to avoid Man City injuries

Cole Palmer is hoping to avoid more injury struggles after making changes to his approach to training.

Palmer, 20, burst into Pep Guardiola's squad in 2020 and looked to be continuing his progress last season with his first Premier League start and first Champions League goal for Manchester City. However, a man-of-the-match appearance in a strong City side at Swindon in January turned out to be his last minutes of the campaign as a side injury proved problematic to overcome; as the weeks turned into months on the sidelines, the club even considered surgery before deciding against.

Seeing his progress stunted was difficult for Palmer, with competition in Guardiola's group so fierce that any time out injured risks being pushed down the pecking order from either those in the squad, those pushing up from the academy, or potential new signings. The England Under-21 international has missed one game this season through fitness but is putting more focus on his strength and conditioning to try to avoid problems arising again.

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"Last season was tough with injury because I didn't realise how long it was going to be," he said. "It could have been a few weeks but it ended up being a few months, which was difficult.

"Obviously after the game at Swindon when I'd played well and scored it was difficult. I've just got to get in the gym, strengthen up and keep everything strong and hopefully that will be ok."

Palmer started as a No.8 alongside Bernardo Silva for the charity match against Barcelona in midweek. The academy graduate didn't see everything go his way - he was involved in a shouting match with Ruben Dias at one point over a disagreement - but