Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, and Phil Foden remain injury doubts for Manchester City's game at Aston Villa.
Grealish has not played since before the international break, while Foden felt discomfort in the win over Everton and has since missed the games against Paris Saint-Germain and West Ham. Pep Guardiola confirmed that the pair had returned to training on Monday for their first involvement for the team, but said that they would be further assessed before Wednesday's match.
De Bruyne's participation in the match looks less likely. The midfielder tested positive for Covid-19 after going away with Belgium, forcing him to isolate for 10 days and rule him out of all three matches. If it is good news that he has tested negative, he has not yet been able to train with the team.
City's manager believes that De Bruyne will need time to come back to the pitch owing to the debilitating effect of Covid, and stressed that even if Foden and Grealish are able to play at Villa Park their minutes will have to be managed.
"Kevin is back but he needs time to be fit," he said.
"All the people who had Covid say it drains them and Kevin needs time to show his form. Phil and Jack are still in the same situation, maybe tomorrow they can play but not a lot of minutes. We are going to see after they train today and the rest we have just 14, 15, players."
