Pep Guardiola revealed he will be without two of his defenders against United at his Friday press conference, both of whom picked up injuries in the midweek FA Cup win over Peterborough United.
The boss says one of the pair, Ruben Dias, could be side-lined for several weeks.
The Portuguese didn’t re-appear for the second -half at London Road with the extent of his problem now confirmed by his manager.
“Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake are not available for Sunday,” said Guardiola.
Confirming Dias had picked up a hamstring injury, the boss says he estimated the Portugal defender could miss ‘four to six weeks’.
Asked if it was a big loss, the boss replied: “Yeah but it happens during a season.
“One of our best players, Kevin De Bruyne, was out for eight or nine months.
“I am not going to cry. We have two central defenders, but it is what it is.
“People said we were lucky with Covid, but we have only 15, 16 players (available) in the last months.
“We will fight. We want to play good, have good behaviours and movements. And hopefully our people can support us like they always do. “
Ake fell heavily after an aerial challenge against Posh, but his injury was not specified at the press conference.
In more encouraging news, Pep revealed Cole Palmer is on track to be available shortly, as well as saying there are no other fresh concerns.
“Cole Palmer feels better,” said Pep.
“Hopefully he can start training in the next few days. The rest are good.”
