Pep Guardiola says he is down to 14 fit players for Manchester City's Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon. The Blues have a 5-0 lead from the first leg of the last 16 tie, but they have lost several players - and have Kevin De Bruyne just one booking away from a suspension in the quarter-final.
The Blues boss revealed that Joao Cancelo is down with illness, and with Kyle Walker still suspended following his three-match ban for a red card at RB Leipzig, he has no right-back available. And with Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake still out, he is down to just John Stones and Aymeric Laporte in terms of senior centre backs. That means Luke Mbete is being considered after being on the bench for the derby on Sunday - but he could just go with Stones and Laporte again, with the Crystal Palace game five days away.
The manager even refused to rule out playing either Fernandinho or a youngster at right back. He said, when asked whether Stones might be shifted back into the role: "And who? Fernandinho maybe, we’ll speak with some players, we are going to speak about the academy."
Guardiola also hinted that he is unlikely to risk De Bruyne, as another yellow card would see him miss the first leg of the quarter-final - and that means James McAtee and Liam Delap, also expected to be in the squad, have a chance of getting a game. The injury and illness problems mean Aleks Zinchenko is a certainty to start, despite having to cope with his grief at what is happening in Ukraine.
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Guardiola said: "He's ready. It's a difficult time. I think now he'll be ready just in case he has to play. We have just 14 players available, we have a few problems with Kyle suspended and Joao is sick and can't play.
"We had an incredible game first leg, 5-0, but we still aren't through. We'll take a top side as much as possible to win the game. [Ake] is out too. Right now, we have just three defenders, not much. We have to adapt maybe with the second team, we will see what we have to do."
Guardiola said Mbete has a chance of making his Champions League debut: "He trained with us for a long time. His application is really high. He's still young but tomorrow he'll be in the (squad) and maybe we'll need him."
Guardiola was asked about De Bruyne and the risk involved and when asked if he will play said with a smile: "Maybe not. We will see." On Ake he said: 'I think it's the next days but tomorrow is too risky and with Ruben out for a long time we can't lose another centre-back. After this game we will have recovery but we can not lose Nathan. It's too risky the doctor said to me."
He could also turn to the academy to solve the right-back issue - he played CJ Egan-Riley at right back in the Carabao Cup earlier this season and when asked about his intentions at right back he said: "I don't know. I'll think about it. Tell me solutions! Fernandinho maybe? I don't know we have training I will see. We have players in the academy and maybe we'll use them."
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