Man City suffer more injury woe as two players withdraw from international duty

Pep Guardiola said Manchester City need the international break to clear their heads, so the news of two more injured players probably won't help his mood this week.

City are already without a number of injured players, with John Stones, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias withdrawing from international duty with various issues. Jack Grealish could follow as City's row with England continues over Grealish's disputed fitness, while Manu Akanji and Jeremy Doku couldn't play at Brighton because neither could 'run' according to Guardiola.

They join Rodri and Oscar Bobb on a lengthy injury list, while Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne are under optimal fitness after recent troubles.

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Now, in-form midfielder-turned-winger Matheus Nunes has added to the injured players having withdrawn from the Portugal squad this month.

Portugal issued a statement on Monday saying Nunes was injured 'while playing for [his] club] and has been declared unfit by their medical team. He will miss fixtures against Poland and Croatia, leaving just Bernardo Silva in the squad from City.

And Akanji has been withdrawn from the Switzerland squad to face Serbia and Spain with an adductor injury according to his national team. Guardiola said: "Manu said 'I felt so bad' in the training session yesterday [Friday] that he couldn't move properly."

The injury issues leave just eight senior outfield players fit at the start of the international break - Rico Lewis, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Savinho, James McAtee and Erling Haaland.