PEP GUARDIOLA says Erling Haaland is on track to return against Fulham on Saturday.
The Norwegian forward missed Saturday’s win at Leicester due to a foot injury – and will not face Sevilla at the Etihad on Wednesday night.
However, there have been signs of progress in recent days and the Manchester City boss is hopeful Haaland will be ready at the weekend.
With City’s place at the top of their Champions League group assured, Pep does not feel there is any need to take a gamble on his top scorer.
Guardiola said: “For Wednesday, he is not available.
“He feels better every day – Sunday, Monday – he feels better but still he is not 100 per cent.
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“We don’t want to take a risk, there is no sense. Hopefully we can have him against Fulham.”
Meanwhile, Guardiola says he cannot afford to give England duo Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker any football just to help the Three Lions.
The pair are likely to be under-cooked going into the World Cup next month after lengthy injury absences.
He believes Walker (groin) is slightly behind Phillips (shoulder) after both had surgery earlier in the autumn.
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Asked if they are likely to play for their clubs before heading to Qatar, Guardiola said: “I don’t know.
“He’s doing partial training sessions with the team so not contact yet but we will see the evolution and the needs.
“I know how important the World Cup is but I’m not going to use a player if they are not ready in physicality or rhythm.
“My feeling right now is all the games will be tight with an incredible amount of games in a short space of time.
“So I don’t think against Fulham with the quality of the opponent and Brentford it will be tight, similar to Leicester and that’s why we will evaluate if he is in the best condition to play.
“We’ve been impressed with Kyle’s recovery but he is late compared to Kalvin.
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“It’s likely, from the way they recover. I don’t know the intention from Kyle but the doctors know better than me.
“From what I hear in the dressing room, it is likely they can be ready. You don’t play a World Cup every week.”
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