Pep Guardiola has hinted he will ring the changes for Manchester City's Premier League clash with Cardiff on Wednesday as he tries to keep his squad fresh.
City's schedule is unrelenting as they go in search of an unprecedented quadruple and while Guardiola is happy to see the games coming thick and fast, he insists rotation will be necessary during the run-in.
The Blues are at Wembley next weekend for their FA Cup semi-final with Brighton and then begin their Champions League quarter-final with Tottenham the following Tuesday.
City could still have 14 games to play if they went all the way in the FA Cup and in Europe and Guardiola has called on his entire squad to be ready to contribute at some stage.
"The next games I am going to make a few changes, we cannot win the Premier League and the other tournaments just with the players who played today," Guardiola said after the 2-0 win at Fulham on Saturday.
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"A few players are going to play against Cardiff and I want the best of them. It’s so important for us that Kevin (De Bruyne) and Fernandinho and the others are back."
Having only played the last 15 minutes of the win at Fulham on Saturday Fernandinho could return against the Bluebirds, as could Leroy Sane, who was an unused substitute.
Vincent Kompany and Phil Foden didn't even travel to London and they could both be involved in midweek.
"Fernandinho is really important but still he is a little bit far away from his best condition, and we cannot forget how good [Ilkay] Gundogan played in his absence, he was incredible the last four or five games, Gundogan was a massive player for us," Guardiola said.
"But we need Kevin, we need of course people who stayed in Manchester, like Vincent, like Phil."
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Guardiola has already planned a rough idea of what sort of teams he wants to pick for the Blues' upcoming fixtures, but admits his plans are changing "day by day".
Sergio Aguero hobbled off at Craven Cottage, which will likely put an end to his involvement in midweek, and while Guardiola is trying to keep one eye on forward planning, he isn't taking his focus away from the next game.
"I had a little bit [of an idea] before the games, I see and take a look a little bit at the players and how they came back from the injuries, and of course for Cardiff I have an idea a little bit," he said.
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"But I don’t think more far away than that, it’s what’s next, that is what we speak about quite often. Next is not Brighton, it’s Cardiff, and do it.
"That is the best way. I learned from that in my previous experience from other clubs when we fight for many titles, for many competitions, not to think too much.
"Today you have to give the best performance possible, that is what it is. And sometimes maybe Aguero cannot play Wednesday because during the process people are tired and people are injured, and we are now handling day by day, no more secrets than that."
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