Man City's Rodri to miss Palace game though getting "sharper every day"

MANCHESTER, England, Dec 12 : Manchester City will be without Rodri again for Sunday's Premier League game at fourth-placed Crystal Palace as their Ballon d'Or winner continues to recover from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since October.

City could use the 29-year-old Spain midfielder in their title chase as they have narrowed the gap with Arsenal and sit two points behind the leaders in second place after 15 games.

"Rodri is training really well," City assistant manager Kolo Toure told reporters on Friday. "He looks sharper and sharper every day we see him but, for sure, I don't think we're going to see him for the weekend but he is going through the process."

Toure was filling in for City boss Pep Guardiola, who missed the pre-game press conference due to what the club called a "personal matter" that will not affect Sunday's game.

"Yeah Pep is fine. It's a small matter that didn't bring him here but everything is fine," Toure said. "He will be back (on Sunday) for sure."

While defender John Stones was absent from the 2-1 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday and missed last week's 3-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland, Toure said squad selection will be finalised after Saturday's training.

"The players are off today. Tomorrow when everyone comes back, we will know more about the players," he said. "It was John's thigh. That's the problem. I'm sure it wasn't something too big and I think he will be back soon."

Toure also confirmed that Sunday will be the final game in which Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are available before they leave to join Egypt and Algeria respectively for the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on December 21.

While Toure was asked whether Arsenal might be