(Reuters) – Manchester City midfield pair Mateo Kovacic and Rodri have recovered from injury but Phil Foden is still unwell ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game at West Ham United, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
Kovacic limped off the field shortly after halftime in last weekend’s 4-1 win against Ipswich Town, while Rodri missed the last two games with a hamstring injury that he picked up at the European Championship.
Guardiola said the entire squad was doing well, apart from Foden who was still down with illness. He came on as a substitute in their season-opening 2-0 win at Chelsea but missed the last game due to sickness.
“Rodri is much better. (Mateo) Kovacic as well. Phil (Foden) still doesn’t feel good. The rest are okay,” Guardiola told reporters.
Guardiola was having a quiet transfer deadline day, with City not linked with any new signings after bringing back their former captain Ilkay Gundogan and adding Brazilian winger Savinho from Troyes.
“I am happy with the squad. Of course, if we have many injuries it could be a problem,” Guardiola said.
“Maybe it is a mistake (not replacing forward Julian Alvarez), I don’t know but I like to work with not a long, long squad. I don’t like to leave a lot of players without playing for a long time.”
The 53-year-old has full confidence in Gundogan, saying the midfielder did not need more than a minute to settle in with the team as he knew what the club wanted.
“He’s a top-class player and he knows the mechanics of what we try to do, what we try to live all together. We knew it and it has happened,” Guardiola added.
City top the standings with six points after two games while West Ham are ninth on three points.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
