Erling Haaland remains a doubt for Manchester City's clash with Liverpool on Sunday while defender John Stones is facing another lengthy lay-off.
Haaland missed City’s Champions League defeat by Real Madrid in midweek after hurting his knee in the closing stages of the encounter with Newcastle last Saturday.
The club had been hopeful the Norwegian could feature, and scans have not indicated any damage, but Haaland felt pain on the day of the game and consequently remained on the bench.
Manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday he was unsure whether the 24-year-old will be fit as the champions host Premier League leaders Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium this weekend.
"Maybe, but I don’t know yet," said Guardiola when asked at his pre-match press conference. "Tomorrow we will know it. We will train today and he will test, but I don’t know."
Haaland has scored 27 goals in all competitions this season but new signing Omar Marmoush last week netted a hat-trick against Newcastle, suggesting City do now have other good attacking options.
Guardiola said: "It is better to have Erling on the pitch than not have him, obviously, and with Erling we are in the position we are right now.
"Everybody is responsible for the good things and the bad things in the team, but of course with Erling we are stronger."
Stones, meanwhile, could be out for a prolonged spell after suffering a thigh injury in the opening minutes of the loss at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.
It is the latest setback in what has been a frustrating campaign for the England centre-back, having made just 20 appearances.
Guardiola said: "He is injured, it is a difficult one and in the next hours or days we will know if he needs surgery or not."
Stones joins fellow defender Manuel Akanji and midfielder Rodri on the long-term casualty list.
Guardiola has also indicated a number of his squad could be moved on this summer.
City have endured a frustrating campaign by their lofty standards, having fallen well off the pace in the Premier League title race and exited the Champions League before the last-16 stage.
Injuries have been a major factor in the champions' decline and manager Guardiola conceded time may now be catching up with some of the players.
Aside from the long-term casualties, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic have all had either lengthy absences or more than one period out of action.
"Some of them cannot sustain, every month or two months, playing every three, four days"
The group have experienced little but continual success in recent years – the club having won four straight Premier Leaguer titles and the treble in 2023 – but Guardiola feels the demands of the calendar now necessitate a refresh.
"That is the reality," the City boss said at a press conference. "We have to sit down with the doctors, with the physios, with the players, with the agents and be clear that some of them cannot sustain, every month or two months, playing every three, four days.
"There’s one more year, then a World Cup. We have already a lot of players that cannot sustain what we have done in the past – week-in, week-out playing in different competitions, travel.
"The quality is there but the quality we can abuse because players can be injured for a long time.
"Listen, we deserve to have a bad season. It’s not good but it can happen.
"But the reality is that for the future, if we want to be there (challenging) again, you have to have players fit and available.
"It’s so demanding. The teams are quicker and faster, stronger and many things and we cannot handle it right now. This is the reality, sorry."
De Bruyne was sidelined for two months in the autumn and has struggled to rediscover his best since.
He was an unused substitute at the Bernabeu Stadium which, for a game of such magnitude, would have been unheard of in previous years.
At 33 and out of contract in the summer, it does seem the City career of the Belgium playmaker – one of the club’s greatest players of all time – could be winding down.
Guardiola confirmed he was not injured, meaning his absence was tactical.
"It was my decision," said Guardiola.
"The relationship with Kevin is exceptional and I cannot thank him enough for what he done to me, to the team, and everything.
"It’s just a decision (based on) what I’ve seen, for many reasons, or a few reasons. It’s never, ever personal.
"Maybe for the demands, for the way now we need to play, because for the absence of strength that we have and physicality and many things, we need more control.
"I decided the decision and that’s all, no more than that."
