Manchester City have been boosted over Christmas by the progress of several young players recovering from injuries - even if Liam Delap and Sam Edozie remain some way off a return.
Brian Barry-Murphy, the Under-23s coach, saw his options severely depleted in the first half of the season as a number of academy players suffered injuries that sidelined them for a considerable time. Micah Hamilton, Darko Gyabi (both midfielders) and Juan Larios have all been injured since September, while full-back Sammy Robinson has not played since August; young winger Joel Ndala picked up an issue in October, and Edozie and Delap followed at the beginning of November.
All academy players that were not needed by Pep Guardiola over Christmas were able to take time off and spend time with their families, and since returning in January coaching staff have been pleased by the progress made by those recovering from long-term issues.
"We've seen real progress over this period where a lot of players went home," Barry-Murphy told M.E.N Sport.
"Micah Hamilton, Sammy Robinson, Darko Gyabi have been back in training from really bad injuries. Behind them, Juan Larios and Joel Ndala - one of our very youngest players - have all appeared on the training pitch. Once you see that, you tend to get carried away and expect them back in days but I imagine it will be weeks.
"It's good for everybody. To see the players go through the significant setback of having a significant injury at such a young stage of their career, it's nice for them to see light at the end of the tunnel and be ready to play again."
If City look to be getting through the worst of their injury battles in the academy, Delap and Edozie still have a bit longer to wait to get back on the pitch.
It has been a frustrating season for Delap, who Guardiola was hoping to give a full pre-season to ahead of a campaign where City haven't had a No.9 before a string of injuries have wiped out almost his entire season to date.
Edozie did shine in the summer and earned a start at Wembley in the Community Shield in August on the back of impressing the first team manager. He continued to be involved with the first team and was on the bench for the Carabao Cup game at West Ham at the end of October before suffering an injury that required a brace for his left leg shortly afterwards that has ruled him out since.
"The guys I just mentioned are almost back playing," said Barry-Murphy. "Liam is inbetween and Sam is further back - I think he's been making very good progress but indoors so we haven't really seen him yet. It's his first significant injury so a new experience for him but from what I've seen he'll be coming back in great condition."
