Nathan Ake will turn out for Manchester City tomorrow, days after the death of his father, in order to head off a defensive injury crisis.
Blues boss Pep Guardiola confirmed that Aymeric Laporte and John Stones will again be missing after struggling with muscle injuries they picked up on international duty.
The pair will definitely miss tomorrow's clash with Southampton and are also doubtful for the trip to Chelsea next week.
They both missed the 6-3 win over RB Leipzig in midweek, when Ake deputised and scored.
But after the game, Ake learned that his father, who has been terminally ill for weeks, had passed away.
The Holland international, however, is set to play against Southampton at the Etihad Stadium, with the Blues down to just two recognised centre backs.
Guardiola was full of praise for the way Ake has battled on in training, and in Wednesday's game, despite the tragedy.
He said: “Nathan has shown his personality. We are concerned, we are sad, our condolences to his mother and brother, family and friends.
“All we can say is we are here for him. We tried in the last hours to tell him how happy we are to be close with him and I'm sure on Saturday he will be ready to fight for us.”
Guardiola said that the two injured defenders came back from international duty and, while Laporte played at Leicester last week, he suffered a reaction.
“Stones didn't play for us and played 90 minutes for the national team and came back injured,” he said.
“Laporte came back with some niggles but he wanted to play against Leicester. After that game his niggles were a little bit higher and we didn't want to take a risk. I don't know aginst Wycombe or Chelsea but hopefully they can be ready after.”
