Man City get early team news update ahead of Crystal Palace trip as 14 youngsters train

Manchester City called up 14 young players to training on Thursday as preparations began for the Premier League trip to Crystal Palace on Monday.

Unusually, Pep Guardiola held his pre-match press conference on Thursday rather than Friday, so couldn't offer any fresh injury updates on the players he missed against Sporting, although Kyle Walker trained after missing the Champions League clash through suspension. It seems, though, that the situation has not improved with just three days left before the Palace fixture.

As is usual on days after a fixture, the players who started take part in lighter, warm-down sessions in the gym rather than out on the training pitch with the ball, so City were missing those who were used against Sporting. However, Guardiola used that opportunity to call up a number of youngsters to bolster a group that included the likes of Jack Grealish, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne.

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We've looked through the training footage and picked out five talking points:

With just five senior players in training, those players were tasked with taking a leadership role in the session that was more like an under-23 group with some first-team additions. During a rondo, and then a practice game, it was Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne barking out the orders to keep possession, keep shape and other instructions.

While the players stretched, Grealish took the opportunity to ask the most important question of the day - are there more doors or wheels in the world - while Kyle Walker returned with another puzzle - are there more grains of sand in the world or stars in the sky. Rodri, clearly puzzled by the questions, gave up when Grealish told him he