Ruben Dias brushed off the idea that Manchester City were under-strength against Aston Villa as they dug out a 2-1 victory that continues their fine form.
Pep Guardiola was given a selection headache ahead of the trip when Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones and Kyle Walker were all ruled out to join Kevin De Bruyne and Ferran Torres on the sidelines; Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were only fit enough for the bench, where they sat alongside two goalkeepers and five academy players that had all featured in an Under-23s game on Monday night.
If the options from the bench were severely limited - the only substitution was Grealish in the 87th minute - Fernandinho, Nathan Ake and Aleks ZInchenko all merited their inclusion in the starting XI as Guardiola's side combined a sensational first half with a solid second period to hold on for another three points.
As far as Dias was concerned, City had a full team out against Villa.
You can vote for Ruben Dias to be named our Fans' Footballer of the year below, or by clicking here.
“It is a mission for the teams to have everyone available every time. Whenever that doesn’t happen it is a moment in which we need to be extra focused and extra ready," the centre-back said.
"Obviously we want everyone available every time to make the best decisions possible but today the team showed that we are a team in every sense of the word.
"It is a very important win, especially with the way we played. If anyone thought that we didn’t have our full team, I think the team answered that. Whoever plays, we have a full team.”
