The Belgian was on the bench for our 1-0 victory over Brentford on Tuesday night with the boss saying that he decided not to risk him as he had ‘slight niggles’.
Guardiola said it was the correct decision and will wait for this afternoon’s training session before deciding on his starting line-up for the game at the Vitality Stadium at 17:30 (UK) with De Bruyne in contention.
“He’s good - not injured,” the City boss said at his prematch news conference on Friday. “He’s better.
“I don’t know if he is 100% but we took a good decision to not take a risk, apart from the result, if the result was not good, people would ask why he didn’t play. He didn’t feel comfortable.
“We have training at 16:00 (UK). The day after the game he didn’t train and yesterday everyone was off, but he trained by himself.
“Today we will assess. I am sure he will travel.”
MATCH PREVIEW | CITY V BOURNEMOUTH
City were boosted by the return of Mateo Kovacic to the first team last weekend, with the midfielder coming off the bench for the win over the Bees.
However his Croatia team-mate Josko Gvardiol has not played since our 3-1 win at Brentford on February 5 while Jack Grealish suffered a muscle injury that forced him off in the first half our 3-1 victory at FC Copenhagen on February 13.
Neither are set to be part of the travelling squad for Bournemouth but the City boss says there is encouraging news about their recoveries.
“This week no, [they will not be involved], but they are closer,” Guardiola added.
“I need to speak with doctors. I don’t know. If I know it I will tell you.”
