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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Nathan Ridley

Man City dealt double injury blow as Pep Guardiola offers update ahead of Liverpool

Manchester City stars Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker are doubts to face Liverpool in their FA Cup semi-final this weekend, having both missed training on Friday.

Manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that both players will be assessed ahead of Saturday's trip to Wembley, with the pair suffering injuries during the Citizens' heated 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the City boss said: "We will see tomorrow about De Bruyne and Walker. Ruben Dias trained today and we will see about him. Kyle would have remained on the pitch.

"He had a big twist but it is getting better. In football these kind of things happen but we will adapt and adjust. "Kevin has stitches in his calf. It is not a muscular injury." Following the Champions League quarter-final clash in Madrid which saw the Citizens advance to the last four on aggregate, Guardiola admitted: "We are in big trouble.

"We played three days ago against a tough Liverpool, travel, come here and have a lot of injuries right now. I'm not sure what will happen in the next weeks but, yeah we will celebrate at home. It's the third time in Man City's history that we are in semi-finals of the Champions League. For us, it's a big success and we are happy to be there."

While Dias is a long-term absentee and most recently played on the first day of March, De Bruyne and Walker both started when their side met Liverpool only last Sunday. Billed as a Premier League title decider, a thrilling 2-2 draw kept them top of the table by one point, with Jurgen Klopp 's side now out for revenge in the cup.

Although Wednesday's fiery affair is in the rearview mirror, City are stretched and Guardiola commented regarding the demands of their hectic schedule: "We can only dream about better conditions. We have to adapt to the broadcaster's demands. We travel here direct from Madrid.

De Bruyne came off injured in Madrid like Walker (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Join the debate! Who will reach the FA Cup final - Man City or Liverpool? Give us your verdict here.

"We have found that in the latter stages we get through. I have said to the players that I do not want any excuses. We need to go to Wembley and play our game." Pressed to discuss the television broadcaster's decisions which have also left Klopp unhappy, he added: "I would prefer to what Jurgen said but I am not going to say a word so it is not going to change. It makes no sense.

"I support, 100 per cent, Jurgen. Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho, they have all said the same but you must adapt. It is not going to change. Broadcasters will always be there. Do whatever you want as I am too busy preparing my team.

"I don't say anything about it. Sometimes you play different times, it is the situation it is what it is. It happened for one reason because we are fighting for all the titles. Does not happen if you are not battling for the titles. It is not ideal we know that, I tell the players to sleep and have massages. At 3:30pm we will be there to try and win the game."

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