Pep Guardiola has revealed Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho's injury is not as bad as first feared.
Fernandinho suffered a muscle strain after coming on as a late substitute in City's 3-1 Champions League win over Porto in midweek.
Guardiola initially said the Brazilian could be out for up to six weeks, but had more encouraging news ahead of tomorrow's trip to West Ham.
“The results are a bit more optimistic,” said Guardiola.
“It will be shorter than one month and not six weeks. That’s good.”
Guardiola's side face what he called a “crazy” schedule between now and the end of the year, with a game every weekend and midweek.
The City boss admitted the schedule will take its toll on his squad and said: “I'd say all the teams in Europe have this problem, the schedule is completely crazy for those teams, especially.
“I might go three or four games in a row with same squad, then make changes. It’s the day before I make my selection and I don’t know it.
“We play West Ham at 12.30 on Saturday, the guys train well, but this afternoon and tonight we’ll decided.
“You can prepare and then there are injuries and niggles. They need more time so we’ll see game by game.”
