Manchester City’s injury concerns are easing with the Blues set to welcome back another two players from injury

Pep Guardiola could have Jeremy Doku and Savinho back in time to face Newcastle next week as Manchester City’s injury problems ease. Savinho has been out since New Year’s Day while Doku went down later in the month to leave the Blues short of wide players despite the arrival of Antoine Semenyo.

City were poor in beating League Two side Salford City on Saturday, with Guardiola putting the team’s struggles down to poor build-up and reading of the game. He was adamant that using wingers would have seen a better performance, but didn’t want to overload new signing Semenyo.

Savinho could have featured after stunning the manager in training this week but it was decided not to throw the Brazilian straight in. He should be in contention for Newcastle though, and Guardiola remains excited by the winger’s potential.

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“He’s [been] injured for six to eight weeks, two months is a lot of time,” he said. “He could play a few minutes but we didn’t want to take risks and step by step. Training two days ago with us, it was like wow. He played so good in training. When Savinho will learn to make the finished product in terms of assists, he will be an unbelievable winger on both sides.

“We know how important Doku is to break teams like Salford or teams who defend deep – proper guys who have the ability to drop them and dribbles help us a lot in the way we want to play. I’m more than delighted with how the team behave.”

Doku has not yet returned to training but is ‘close’ to a return and could also be back as soon as next week. Those two comebacks will leave Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol as the only long-term absentees in the squad, and Guardiola said on Friday that Kovacic is back on the grass as he enters the final stages of his recovery.

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Manchester City have been battling some significant injury troubles across the team, with Pep Guardiola giving an update on Erling Haaland’s fitness situation after the Fulham game

The Premier League title race is heating up, as Manchester City applied pressure on Arsenal once again by picking up an important win in midweek action.

A first-half blitz from Pep Guardiola’s men saw them defeat Fulham, as goals from Antoine Semenyo, Nico O’Reilly, and Erling Haaland handed them victory at the Etihad Stadium.

With the gap at the top now down to just three points, it’s up to City’s title rivals Arsenal to respond, as they are in action on Thursday against an in-form Brentford side.

In the meantime, Guardiola will be keen to rally his troops once more, hopeful of avoiding injuries at a key time of the season when they can start to crank up the pressure on their rivals for the Premier League crown.

So, with that said, here’s a look at the latest City injury news, including an update on Haaland after the Fulham victory.

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Erling Haaland

City fans were left nervous over Haaland’s fitness after the goalscorer was substituted at half-time during his side’s win over Fulham.

Fortunately, Guardiola downplayed the issue after the match, as he told reporters: “Niggles. Some problems, he didn’t feel comfortable, it was 3-0.

“The reason why is too many games. Fatigue. He said ‘I don’t feel comfortable’. With 3-0 and with a lot of games and with having Omar [Marmoush], common sense.”

As a result, it’s unclear whether Haaland will feature against Salford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday, before City turn back to Premier League action against Newcastle the following weekend.

John Stones

After a spell out of the team through injury, John Stones finally made his return to the City squad again in midweek, featuring on the bench.

The defender was an unused substitute, while he could make an appearance against Salford in the FA Cup over the weekend.

Jeremy Doku

Jeremy Doku is still out through injury, having picked up a calf problem against Galatasaray in the Champions League earlier this season.

There is an expectation that he could return at some point this month, but it remains to be seen whether the recovery will meet that timeline.

Josko Gvardiol

City will be without Josko Gvardiol for the foreseeable future, with the defender picking up a tibial fracture in the clash with Chelsea.

There is hope that the Croatian international will be back at some point before the end of the season, with a few months left for him to make a return.

Savinho

Savinho has struggled to get going this season, having failed to get many minutes on the pitch with some proper momentum, as injuries continue to impact him.

The Brazilian winger was lined up for a possible return this week, but after failing to make the squad against Fulham, it’s unclear exactly when he will be available once again.

Mateo Kovacic

It’s been a tough campaign for Mateo Kovacic, who picked up an ankle problem in November, and has been unable to play for City ever since. A return seems unlikely until next month at the earliest.

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