Pep Guardiola Says Manchester City Have 13 Senior Fit Players Available For Leicester Match | Football news

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Pep Guardiola already has a long list of absent in Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola claims to have only 13 fit senior players available for Sunday’s clash with Leicester.

City are less than a week into their new season, but they already have a long list of absentees.

Guardiola turned to the youngsters for the 2-1 Carabao Cup victory at Bournemouth and hopes to have to call on the resources of the club’s academy again.

One young man who drew attention against the Cherries was 17-year-old forward Liam Delap, son of former Stoke midfielder Rory, who opened the scoring with a good shot from inside the area.

With Sergio Agüero possibly out for another two months while he recovers from knee surgery, Delap could see more action in the coming weeks.

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Highlights from the Carabao Cup match between Manchester City and Bournemouth

Guardiola said: “Well, the situation we have now, we only have 13 players available in the first team. We need the quarry, not just for training. They can be selected during matches.

“With the problems at hand, of course Liam will stay with us. We’ll see if we need him or use him.

“But we cannot forget, as in the same way we talked about Phil Foden in previous seasons, he is only 17 years old. He has many things to improve, the steps take their own time.”

Manchester City forward Sergio Agüero may be out for another two months

Guardiola revealed that Nicolás Otamendi, who has been linked to a Porto signing, did not take a chance due to “inconvenience”, while defender Aymeric Laporte is not yet fit.

Laporte only returned to training last Friday after recovering from the coronavirus and is also unlikely to participate in the home clash with the Foxes in the Premier League.

With players like Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko also out and others rested, Guardiola made eight changes against Bournemouth.

Delap and American goalkeeper Zack Steffen debuted, while there were opportunities for youngsters Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle and Adrian Bernabe.

The night at the Bernabé turned bitter when he, too, suffered an injury and was suspended before half-time.

Delap’s goal got City off to a good start with 18 minutes remaining, but Sky Bet Championship’s Bournemouth responded well to level through Sam Surridge.

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Rory’s son Liam Delap opened the scoring for Manchester City, now take a look at some of the goals his father’s shot created for Stoke!

Another celebrated academy graduate, Foden, resolved the tie with 15 minutes to go after Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling were called up from the bench.

Foden got home neatly on the rebound after Riyad Mahrez hit the post.

But still it was Delap, who was booked late after a bad challenge to goalkeeper Mark Travers, who stole the show.

“He is a different striker from ours in terms of physique, but we see in training how good the spiker is,” Guardiola said. “Now we are calm, we continue working, but we are delighted with his performance.”

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