Staff Reporter.
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Pep Guardiola confirmed Manchester City have suffered another injury blow, with Ruben Dias ruled out for “three or four weeks” with a muscle injury.
The defender suffered the injury in last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United but played through the whole 90 minutes.
Dias, who has already missed seven games in all competitions this season due to a calf injury, has made 13 Premier League appearances, with City keeping three clean sheets with him on the pitch.
He is set to miss the festive top-flight fixtures and faces a race to be fit for their FA Cup tie against Salford City and their Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on January 22.
“He’s out for a long time,” Guardiola said. “Three or four weeks – muscular issue.
“[He played] 75 minutes against United and felt something, but he is so strong, so stayed on the pitch and is now injured.”
It is the latest in a number of injuries for the reigning champions this season, with Oscar Bobb, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and Rodri all missing from the squad in the Manchester derby.
Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and John Stones have also had spells on the sidelines, while Ederson is a doubt for their trip to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Despite their injury worries, Guardiola was upbeat in his press conference, a stark contrast to his downbeat mood last weekend.
City have lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions (W1 D2), as many as they had in their previous 106 combined (W78 D20). They last lost more in a single campaign in 2019-20 (12).
“We’d just finished a game that we lost in the circumstances, and I was not happy,” he said.
“I try to be honest about the feelings of my teams. We fell down six times [number of Premier League games without a win], we have to stand up seven. There is no alternative.
“I’m fine. I’m a normal person with feelings like all of us. When the situation is going well, we are better, but it’s normal. I would not go to the press conference if we were 1-0 up and expressing something that I didn’t feel.”