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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has provided a fitness update on three of his important players ahead of their FA Cup clash against Nottingham Forest. The Cityzens will join Forest at Wembley Stadium this weekend (April 27) for the semi-final clash, which will see both sides hunt for a spot in the final.
However, City have struggled with injury concerns in recent months, with a fair number of their players enduring spells on the sidelines. Guardiola has now given a fresh update on who could be available for the FA Cup game, starting with his goalkeeper Ederson. He told the press (via club website):
“We’ll see. Eddie is coming back training a little bit. But I don’t know if he’ll be ready for this game, hopefully the next one.”
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Next, he turned to Rodri, who has not played for Manchester City since he was injured back in September. The Ballon d'Or winner is working towards his fitness, but he has not yet been cleared to play, as Guardiola explained:
“Every training session he does with us, he does well. But I don’t know. Rodri wants [to play] but the doctor will have to say ‘Pep you have green light to give him minutes.’ I want to rely on the doctors in that case.”
Finally, Pep Guardiola provided a positive update on Erling Haaland, revealing that the striker was getting back into shape:
“He feels better. I said before I don’t know when. It’s not a comfortable injury. You have some twist in your ankle and then taping. It’s not comfortable. He’s not a small guy but he’s getting better step by step. Still, he doesn’t train with the team but we will see how he does.”
Manchester City will hope that the striker, who has racked up an absurd return of 120 goals and 20 assists in 138 appearances, will return to the starting lineup soon.
Manchester City face Nottingham Forest at Wembley
Manchester City will visit Wembley this weekend, knowing that the FA Cup is their only hope of a trophy this season. It has been a surprising fall for the English giants, who have failed to meet expectations in every other competition.
They crashed out of the UEFA Champions League in the playoffs against Real Madrid. They were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the Round of 16 by Tottenham Hotspur. Their Premier League title defense has been sub-par this season, and they are currently in the race for a top-five spot.
Their only hope of salvaging the season would be to win the FA Cup. Manchester City need to get past Nottingham Forest this weekend, then set up a showdown between either Aston Villa or Crystal Palace in the final.
