Aymeric Laporte has sent a cryptic response as he looks to win back his place in the Manchester City line up.
Laporte started the season as first choice alongside new signing Ruben Dias in the centre of City's defence, but has found himself rotated out of Pep Guardiola's side for the last four fixtures. Laporte was left out completely last week for the 5-0 win over Burnley, which was put down to rotation, and the Frenchman has not been injured.
In his place, Dias has started all four games, while John Stones has stepped in three times to perform well and keep his place. With an opportunity to rotate against Marseille this week followed by the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford, Laporte will get an idea of where he stands in Guardiola's thoughts if he is saved for the Manchester United game or used against Marseille to give Stones or Dias a rest.
In the build-up to the Marseille fixture, Laporte took to Instagram to reiterate his focus, as he posted a picture of him training in City gear.
He wrote: "Always remember: your focus determines your reality."
The post comes after Guardiola was asked before the win over Fulham why Laporte was once again on the bench behind Stones, and the manager replied with a reference to Stones' application in training.
"John played really good last two games, he deserved to continue to play. It always depends on performance," Guardiola said.
"The skills and qualities are there or you couldn’t play for Man City. So it’s how you perform every training session every day."
Guardiola has insisted that a good performance without costly mistakes will see his defenders retain their places, pointing to Dias' consistency since arriving as reason for his regular game time. The manager also said he will use those players he left on the bench against Fulham - including Laporte - against Marseille, which could see the Frenchman get some minutes.
However, that might restrict his chances of starting at Old Trafford on Saturday, with Guardiola having more fresh options to pick for come Saturday.
