Pep Guardiola gives injury & fitness update on four Man City players ahead of RB Leipzig clash

Pep Guardiola gave a fitness update on Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes and Jack Grealish on Monday ahead of Manchester City's Champions League clash against RB Leipzig.

The trio all missed Saturday's game against Liverpool, with Kovacic and Nunes injured, while Grealish was unavailable due to illness.

Speaking before the Leipzig encounter, Guardiola said he does not expect any of his players to be back in time for the Champions League encounter.

"We have training now but we will see this afternoon. We will do the second day of recovery, we won't do absolutely anything. I'm not optimistic about some people coming back but we will see this afternoon. I think it will be the same people who played against Liverpool."

City have picked up several fresh injuries in recent weeks, in addition to the long-term absence of Kevin De Bruyne, who has not played since the first week of the Premier League season.

But the Belgian revealed over the weekend that he will has targeted January as his return to the team. "He said this. I did not know," joked Guardiola.

"If he said January it will be January. I would have loved to have him all season but now he has tough injury and surgery and he said end of December or new year, so it will be happy new year for everyone."

Other than the previously mentioned quartet, John Stones is the only player expected to miss Tuesday's match. The defender was named in the squad against Liverpool, but Guardiola revealed after the game that he needs additional time to build up his strength after a longer-term hip injury.