Man City given a double boost that Pep Guardiola was hoping for

Roberto Martinez has released Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias from the Portugal squad ahead of their friendly with Slovenia on Tuesday.

Both Manchester City stars played 90 minutes on Thursday night in a 5-2 win over Sweden after lining up for Pep Guardiola in the FA Cup quarter-final against Newcastle the previous weekend. However, they have now been released from international duty to give them extra time to recover ahead of the resumption of City's season next weekend against Arsenal.

Martinez has let eight players go in total and called another eight up for the second friendly as he tries to look at as many players as possible before deciding on his final selection for the European Championship. It is a tactic he has used before when he was Belgium manager. And there will certainly be no complaints from City at having Silva and Dias spared an extra match.

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Guardiola had stressed to his squad before they broke up for the break that they needed to make sure they were sensible enough on international duty to come back in the best possible shape. With two months of the season remaining, City have a chance to do the unthinkable and retain all three of the major trophies that they won last year.

Dias and Silva will be key if the Blues are to go all the way again, and Matheus Nunes could also have an important role to play. It has been an up-and-down year for the midfielder since moving from Wolves but he will be needed in a small squad as Guardiola attempts to rotate his team to navigate them through three competitions.

Nunes scored for Portugal in the 5-2 win over Sweden and is one of the