Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed three absentees from Saturday afternoon’s tricky contest against Nottingham Forest.
City are looking for a win that will temporarily take them back to the top of the table, at least until Arsenal face Brighton & Hove Albion later in the day.
Guardiola has confirmed that City will be without Rodri, Jeremy Doku and John Stones for the trip to the City Ground, although the former’s fitness is uncertain.
The Spanish tactician claimed that a late decision will be made on Rodri’s fitness to determine whether he can link up with the squad.
While the possibility of him marking his return this weekend is slim, the fact that he’s closer to getting back on the pitch is fantastic news for the club.
Rodri has hardly kicked a ball for City since the 1-0 win over Brentford at the start of October, having struggled to regain full fitness after a hamstring problem.
That setback came shortly after his return from a lengthy knee injury lay-off, with his only appearance since being a short cameo off the bench against Bournemouth in early November.
Despite the stop-start nature of his recovery, Guardiola revealed that the Spain international is now much closer to full fitness.
“Rodri is much, much better,” Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference. “Available or not, we’ll decide today.”
Guardiola also provided updates on two other first-team players who have been sidelined.
Doku and Stones remain unavailable for now, but the City boss suggested their returns are not too far away.
City head to Forest knowing they could easily drop points given the form Saturday’s hosts are in.
Forest are 17th in the Premier League table, five points above the relegation zone. But that doesn’t reflect the resurgence they’ve enjoyed since Sean Dyche took over as manager.
City must be wary of the threat Forest carry, especially after losing 1-0 at the City Ground on their last visit in March.
