Pep Guardiola defends Kevin De Bruyne decision as Man City manage injuries

Pep Guardiola expects Kevin De Bruyne to travel with Manchester City to Bournemouth after training this week.

De Bruyne made an instant impact in the team after a hamstring injury that kept him out for five months, but was an unused substitute for the win over Brentford this week after suffering a few niggles. City are determined to keep De Bruyne in the best condition for their crunch period coming up, with the Belgian having carried an injury through the final two months of the last campaign.

Guardiola is keen not to take risks with De Bruyne and believes that not playing him against Brentford would have been the right decision even if they hadn't won the game. With an assessment on Friday after training, City will reach a similar decision for Bournemouth.

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"He's good, not injured. I don't know if he's 100 per cent but we took good decisions not to take a risk," said Guardiola.

"I know if the result was not good people would ask why he didn't play but we took a decision because he didn't feel comfortable

"The day after the match, he trained and then yesterday we were off he came and trained by himself. We will assess but I'm pretty sure he will travel."

Guardiola added that Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol were likely to miss Saturday's game but both are making good progress on their return from injuries. Grealish could return in time for the Manchester derby after his injury was deemed to be less serious than first feared.