Pep Guardiola provides Ruben Dias injury update ahead of Aston Villa meeting

Pep Guardiola provides Ruben Dias injury update ahead of Aston Villa meeting

Manchester City FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League
Manchester City FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League | Visionhaus/GettyImages

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has provided an update on Portuguese defender Ruben Dias, ahead of Saturday's Aston Villa fixture.

Manchester City are in desperate need of winning results, after only claiming one victory in their last 11 games, accompanied by three days and eight losses; the most recent coming as a late 2-1 defeat by Manchester United in the derby.

In the Premier League, Man City are currently ranked on fifth place with 27 points, behind Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Chelsea, and leaders Liverpool, who are nine points ahead of the Cityzens.

Man City have been faced with many injuries this season so far, from Kevin De Bruyne to long-term absentee Rodri.

Now, another issue has arisen as Ruben Dias's availability has come into question. Manager Pep Guardiola has given an update on the player.

Pep Guardiola gives injury updates

Pep Guardiola
Manchester City FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League | Carl Recine/GettyImages

"Ruben (Dias) is out for a long time. Three or four weeks, muscular. (He played) 75 minutes against United. He felt something but he is so strong and wanted to stay on the pitch."

However, Guardiola also had some more bad news to share as he stated, "Ederson, I don't know if he will be ready (for Saturday)."

The boss then had positive news to announce, regarding two absent names, Manuel Akanji and John Stones,

"Manuel (Akanji) and John (Stones are back in training. That is good for us. As many players that are back the better. I don't know yet (starting in the Aston Villa game). Yesterday was their first training session. I would say properly. They have been out for a while."

Manchester City have three games remaining in 2024, all arriving in the Premieir League. Aston Villa comes as the next opponent, a team Pep Guardiola was very quick to praise during his press conference, complimenting them by saying "They've done really, really well." Currently, Villa are sixth in the League, two points behind City