Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that the club will monitor the fitness of João Cancelo and Riyad Mahrez over the coming days after both picked up injuries during Sunday's 4-0 win over Fulham.
Mahrez was forced off early in the second half after struggling to recover from a heavy tackle, while Cancelo was also spotted limping towards the end of the game after picking up what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Speaking after the match (via Manchester Evening News), Guardiola suggested that neither injury was too serious, but both will be monitored ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Manchester United.
"Riyad recovered well from his kick and João Cancelo had a big kick with some injury on his ankle. We will see how they recover in the next days," he said.
Guardiola also discussed the health of centre-back Aymeric Laporte. The Frenchman was completely left out of the matchday squad on Sunday, prompting rumours that he may have aggravated the knee injury which kept him sidelined for months.
Fortunately, the boss revealed that Laporte is not injured whatsoever, and it was more a question of easing him back into first-team action.
"He has some fatigue, it's normal after four or five months and we didn't want to take a risk," Guardiola added.
"Right now I don't know when he'll be able to play, we are going to see because it was such a demanding game at Sheffield United after five months out and not many training sessions. He played 75 minutes but we will see, we spoke with him and the doctors and if he is not ready he is not going to play."
City roared to a 3-1 win over their cross-town rivals in the first leg of the semi-finals, putting them in a commanding position ahead of Wednesday's game, but Guardiola will still want his side at full strength.
The Spaniard has always taken the Carabao Cup incredibly seriously, so he will certainly be sweating over the fitness of the three players.
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
Source: 90min
