Pep Guardiola admitted Sergio Aguero is still short of full fitness after the Manchester City striker missed training again following Tuesday's draw with West Brom.
Aguero played the final 15 minutes of Tuesday's 1-1 draw after illness kept him out of last weekend's Manchester derby, but seems unlikely to start at Southampton on Saturday.
"After the game he missed training, yesterday he did not train," Guardiola said. "He trained today and trained really well but I don't know how many minutes (he can play).
"It is important he makes the training sessions but after the game he could not. It wasn't the knee, it was another area."
City need a fully firing Aguero as soon as possible, with a lack of goals proving a major headache.
With his side stuck on 18 goals from 12 games - compared with 35 at the same stage of the campaign last year - Guardiola admitted it was a new challenge for him.
"Of course we have to play better," he said. "There are some principles we are not able to do. We have to come back. The only chance we have is to create more.
"We have to play better. The responsibility is not just on the strikers. Everybody can be involved to create more."
