Pep Guardiola asserts he has options in mind to cover the injury to Leroy Sane.
The German winger has been an integral part of City’s squad this season, having scored 11 goals and produced 14 assists in all competitions, but has been ruled out for up to seven weeks, after suffering ankle ligament damage in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Cardiff.
Although the Blues boss was disappointed to lose the 22-year-old to injury, he insisted he has ideas for who can step in.
“We don’t have left-footed players in that position or guys to push up like full-backs but we are going to adapt,” Guardiola told press.
“Right now, we have just three strikers plus Brahim Diaz. We don’t have more for the next month or month-and-a-half because of Leroy and Gabriel Jesus, who is coming maybe in the next five or six weeks.
“We are going to overcome the situation. We are going to adapt the way we play. If David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne have to play as a winger, they will play as a winger. We can adapt several positions to do that.
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“Raheem Sterling can play at left-back. We have Raz and Bernardo Silva can play like a winger. In that moment, my first idea was that these guys are going to play.
“For a lot of games, I haven’t known what is going to happen. David is here sometimes; sometimes, he is in Valencia. We are going to decide day by day what is best.
“It’s not an ideal situation but it’s how you handle bad moments. We have played without a left-back and we’ve done it well. We are going to continue with that. Something is going to happen.
“We have lived this season without a left-back. Our left-back is Benjamin Mendy and he is six months out. We adapted Danilo in that position – not his natural position – and Fabian Delph and Oleks Zinchenko. They did really well.
“We played almost all of the season without Vincent Kompany. He was six weeks out but John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi were an amazing couple. We overcame that situation.
“The important thing is the team spirit and that people are still fit. We have to be focused on what we have to do, game by game.
“We don’t have too many options to play every three days. We have a lot (to do) but we are going to find a solution.
“We play West Brom (on Wednesday), then we have two days of recovery and we are going to one of the toughest places in the Premier League in Burnley. We will try to move forward.”
