Unlikely hero could solve Man City's defensive injury crisis

Manchester City are now facing an injury crisis at the worst possible moment.

With six must-win Premier League games to navigate and a tough Champions League semi-final just around the corner, Pep Guardiola has been left with precious few full-back options thanks to injuries and suspensions. Kyle Walker limped out of City's goalless draw with Atletico Madrid last week with a badly twisted ankle, and it's now been revealed he's out of the Watford and Real Madrid games.

A week later when the Blues defeated Brighton 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium, both Nathan Ake — who has enjoyed a renaissance of late — and the ever-reliable John Stones both limped off, the former with a twisted ankle and the latter with a muscle injury.

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On his defensive issues, Guardiola said: "I have few, few thoughts about Madrid. Brighton and Watford were so important – tomorrow [Saturday] at 5pm, 7pm I will start to watch. I don’t have much time to watch them. So we will see."

The silver-lining is that Ruben Dias made his return from injury against Brighton, but he will not alleviate Guardiola's full-back headache. City face Watford on Saturday with a chance to (temporarily at least) extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points, but they may only have four fit defenders to chose from.

When Real Madrid visit the Etihad next week, the situation could be even worse. With Joao Cancelo serving a one-match suspension, if Ake and Stones are still out then Guardiola will have just three fit senior defenders to call upon.

One of those will be Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Ukrainian midfielder-turned-left-back has made just nine Premier League