Pep Guardiola has offered a new update on Erling Haaland after the Manchester City striker was omitted from the squad to face Chelsea.

The holders are without their top scorer for Saturday evening’s high-profile FA Cup semi-final showdown at Wembley after he asked to be substituted - along with Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji - during Wednesday night’s agonising Champions League quarter-final defeat by Real Madrid.

But while De Bruyne and Akanji were both deemed fit to start against Chelsea, Haaland did not even make the bench for such a big occasion after Guardiola confirmed during his pre-match press conference that the reigning Premier League Golden Boot winner was struggling with a muscle problem.

Julian Alvarez was instead selected to lead the line for City at Wembley, with Stefan Ortega, John Stones and Nathan Ake also replacing Ederson, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.

Asked for a further update on Haaland’s status ahead of kick-off against Chelsea, Guardiola offered more optimism that the injury was not serious but said he was unsure if he would be fit for title-chasing City’s next game, a rearranged Premier League trip to Brighton on Thursday night.

“Haaland is injured,” Guardiola told the BBC. “I don't think it's much but he's not able for today. I don't know if he will be back for the next game”.

City will not want to be without Haaland for long as they look to successfully retain their league title once again following costly losses for rivals Arsenal and Liverpool last weekend.

After travelling to Brighton, Guardiola’s men head to Nottingham Forest before further meetings with Wolves, Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham before the end of the campaign.