Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Manchester City will have to do without centre-back Ruben Dias for at least the next three weeks.
Dias missed November with a calf injury but has played the full 90 minutes in each of City's last four games, including this one. Defeat in the Manchester derby against Manchester United last weekend.
It was in that 2-1 defeat to the Red Devils that Dias picked up an injury which Guardiola initially revealed would keep the centre-back out for “a long time”.
Pushed to give a specific timeframe, Guardiola added: “Three or four weeks. Muscular. 75 minutes against united. He felt something, but he is so strong and wanted to stay on the field.”
Guardiola also revealed goalkeeper Ederson “may not be ready” for City's trip to face Aston Villa on Saturday, but did not reveal the nature of the Brazilian's problem.
town remain without Dutchman Nathan Ake, but Dia's absence has been countered by the return of John Stones and Manuel Akanji to full training.
“Manuel and John are back in training. “That's good for us. The more players that come back, the better.
“I don't know yet (if they can start against Aston Villa). Yesterday was their first training session, I would say, properly. They have been out for a while.”
City go into the game having lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions – a run which is arguably the worst of Guardiola's career. The eight-time Premier League winners trail leaders Liverpool by nine points on aggregate and are fifth in the table behind Chelsea, Arsenal and surprise package Nottingham Forest.