Ruben Dias sends upbeat message as Man City wait on hamstring injury

Ruben Dias sent a positive message as the Manchester City defender aims to return in time for a gruelling run of fixtures.

Dias, 24, instantly made himself the most reliable centre-back for Pep Guardiola when he signed from Benfica in September 2020 for £64.3m, and has been picked significantly more than John Stones and Aymeric Laporte have over the last 18 months. However, the Portugal defender has been sidelined since the beginning of the month with a hamstring injury picked up in the FA Cup win at Peterborough.

City will hope that the player is able to return to training next week when the Blues begin preparing for a daunting schedule that sees them play Atletico Madrid and Liverpool twice after a trip to Burnley, testing them in three competitions. Guardiola has been warned by the club's medical staff, however, that rushing Dias back could rule him out of more games.

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Having also had to sit out a crucial World Cup qualifier with his national team, Dias posted an upbeat message on his Instagram. It read: "Always see the positive in the bad. Important time to rest the mind and get ready for what’s coming!"

Laporte and Stones have played every City game in Dias' absence, and have conceded just two goals in four matches with two clean sheets. Guardiola will hope that he has as many options available to him as possible as City approach a crunch time in their efforts to win the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup.

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