Pep Guardiola speaks out on his Jack Grealish 'problem' amid Man City struggles

Pep Guardiola has urged Jack Grealish to ignore outside noise and focus on playing his best football for Man City.

The 26-year-old has admitted that adapting to Guardiola's style has taken a little longer than expected and his output is reflective of that.

Grealish has scored three goals in 25 appearances in all competitions, but the City boss claims it is a "problem" when his players overanalyse their numbers and goal contributions.

Following Grealish's Premier League record £100million transfer from Aston Villa to City in the summer, Guardiola insists he has been happy enough with the England international's performances.

The City manager said: "Maybe he listened too much to what the people say and it’s wrong.

"Always we talk about the statistics. Players today play for the statistics, but this is the biggest mistake they can do.

"Statistics are just a bit of information that we have, but there are players that make the team play good and are not in the statistics. Players say, 'How many goals (did) I score or how many assists'… this is the problem.

"These statistics never existed before. It’s how you play if you perform to your maximum, to your best, help your team-mates to make the process defensively and offensively better, that is enough. Thanks to that we are going to win."

Grealish has not featured in City’s last four games due to a shin problem but was an unused substitute for Saturday’s Premier League victory at Everton.

He is in line to make a return to action as City face Peterborough in the FA Cup fifth round this evening.

And Guardiola has tipped Villa's former talisman to rediscover his best form at the Etihad.

"He plays quite similar to Aston Villa in terms of ball contact," said Guardiola at a press