I saw Man City player offer Pep Guardiola wildcard solution to solve injury problems vs Bournemouth

Pep Guardiola's primary objective at Tottenham was to emerge without any further injuries to his Manchester City squad. He got at least two more.

With six influential players missing, and no sign of any returning before the international break, City's preparations at Spurs were rocked when Manu Akanji pulled out of the warm-ups with a calf problem. The fact that he picked up the injury the day before but was still risked in the starting line up underlines the desperate nature of Guardiola's injury problems.

Maybe that was because Ruben Dias is 'struggling'. Dias replaced Akanji but was substituted at half-time. And his replacement Josko Gvardiol ended the game getting treatment from physios on the pitch after the full time whistle. Savinho was stretchered off, too.

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Add those four to the six already out and City could have ten players missing at Bournemouth on Saturday. Guardiola says he has just 13 players available, referring to his senior options of which three are goalkeepers and one hasn't started a game in the Premier League for City before.

It is almost certain that Guardiola will have to call upon his academy options again. Nico O'Reilly isn't included in the 13 and it would be unfair to expect him to solve the issues all in one. But he looked good at Spurs and Guardiola praised him for playing like he did in pre-season when the boss decided to promote him permanently to the senior team.

Jacob Wright came off the bench for a fourth senior appearance and this was the best of the lot, including his friendly appearances in pre-season. Guardiola knows all about what he can do and asked that he didn't leave on loan during the summer.

Wright got stuck in at Tottenham and stepped up from his previous appearances which were tidy but largely risk-free - understandably as a youngster in this set-up. At one stage he span out of trouble with three players around him to get City on the attack and he was desperately close to an equaliser with a close shot from range (the less said about his next two efforts the better).

Guardiola praised him after the game and had seen Wright make more crosses than any other teammate in the whole game. He had three efforts on goal, completed one key pass, and added a much-needed attacking drive when City needed a goal.

His 76 per cent passing accuracy was less than City midfielders need to be recording, but he is a raw option and for the academy he has six goals and four assists in 13 outings - a contribution every 98 minutes.

He probably won't start ahead of Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan or Bernardo Silva - but if they need to be rested in the second half at Bournemouth, Wright can be a hard-working option.

It isn't a perfect solution, but it isn't a perfect situation. And Wright's eye for goal in the Elite Development Squad could also come in handy if he gets another chance in the Premier League for a first time.