Manchester City handed Jack Grealish , Josko Gvardiol injury boost ahead of Luton Town tie
Man City handed Grealish, Gvardiol injury boost ahead of Luton clash
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has refused to rule out the possibility of both Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol returning from injury for Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
Grealish has not been involved in any of the Citizens’ last three Premier League matches since sustaining a muscle problem in the first half of a 3-1 Champions League win against Copenhagen earlier this month.
Gvardiol, meanwhile, has been nursing an ankle ligament injury which has forced his to miss each of City’s last five games across all competitions.
Guardiola, who initially suggested that both players would be sidelined for two to three weeks, has since provided a brief yet positive update on the Citizens duo ahead of Monday afternoon’s first-team training session.
“[Grealish is] good. [Gvardiol is] good too,” Guardiola said at a press conference on Monday. “I don’t know [if Gvardiol will play]. He’s training without much pain.
“Still he didn’t train with us but he’s on the verge to come back. We have training this afternoon, but I think everybody’s fine.”
Man City handed Grealish, Gvardiol injury boost ahead of Luton clash
One other first-team player Man City are sure to keep an eye on is star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who recovered from “niggles” in his hamstring to make a cameo appearances off the substitutes’ bench in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth in the Premier League.
It remains to be seen whether De Bruyne, who was sidelined for five months earlier this season with a torn hamstring before making his long-awaited comeback in early January, will be considered from the start against Luton.
After registering back-to-back 1-0 wins over Bournemouth and Brentford in the Premier League to move to within one point of leaders Liverpool, Guardiola is expecting another tricky test against Luton in the FA Cup as his treble-chasing side enter a “decisive period” in their season.
“I don’t have any doubts we’re going to try,” said the Citizens boss. “After [Tuesday’s] game February is over, just two months or three months to the end of the season, we arrive here still being there.
“Tomorrow is a final like every game in the Premier League and of course in the Champions League, so the decisive period of the season is here in front of us. Not far away in front of us and we’re going for it.
“Of course, when you play in the last 16 and semi-finals and you know how difficult it is. It’s a good test to see how our rhythm, our mental consistency is, to what we have for the next month and everybody knows what we are going to play for.”
Man City were trailing 1-0 at half time in their last encounter at Kenilworth Road in early December, but two quickfire strikes from Bernardo Silva and Grealish midway through the second half helped Guardiola’s side turn the game on its head to secure a 2-1 top-flight victory.
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