Erling Haaland returns to Man City training ahead of Southampton fixture

Erling Haaland could be available for Manchester City's Premier League trip to Southampton after returning to training following a groin injury.

Haaland picked up the injury against Burnley last month, and was ruled out of Norway's international fixtures. He missed City training last week, and was unavailable for the Premier League win over Liverpool, with Pep Guardiola saying he felt better but wasn't fit enough to play in the 4-1 win at the Etihad.

Guardiola sounded optimistic that Haaland was nearing a return when speaking after the Liverpool win, and gave his players three days off to prepare for the trip to Southampton and following Champions League clash with Bayern Munich next week.

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Now, City have published photos from their first training session back, with Haaland part of the group that began preparations for the journey to St Mary's.

Haaland had spent Tuesday in London as part of a Nike event having become the face of the sportswear company's latest campaign, and looked in good spirits in a short clip that City posted of Wednesday's training session.

After Southampton, City face Bayern Munich at home in the Champions League quarter-final first leg, before taking on Leicester at the Etihad next weekend. Then follows the return leg at the Allianz Arena against Bayern, and City return to England to face Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final. Four days later, they welcome Arsenal in a Premier League title race showdown.

Guardiola said after the Liverpool win: "He is getting better. [On Friday] he felt a little bit better compared to the previous two. Seven days to Southampton hopefully