Pep Guardiola is still putting his faith in Manchester City's experienced professionals to get them out of their crisis.

The Blues have won just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions, losing eight of those, to see their hopes of Premier League and Champions League success take a major hit. An injury-hit squad has been unable to stabilise with games every three days and more players falling down with problems just as others come back; ahead of Villa, Manu Akanji has returned to training but Ederson and Ruben Dias have issues.

Guardiola has a deliberately small squad, but as well as injuries savaging his selections the manager has also opted not to turn to the less experienced members of his group. Jahmai Simpson-Pusey was tried as an emergency centre-back at Sporting and Brighton but hasn't started since and James McAtee has just one appearance in the Premier League in this time - as an 89th minute sub in the 3-0 win over Forest.

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McAtee wasn't even getting minutes at the beginning of the season; his only other league appearance this term came in the 89th minute of the 5-1 win over Ipswich. And while the 20-year-old said at the beginning of the season he wasn't staying at City for the minutes, he does have two years of experience with Sheffield United that included the highs of promotion and the scrap of a relegation battle.

City's sporting director Txiki Begiristain is a big fan of McAtee and Guardiola always praises him highly - on Friday he said the player was one of their options for when Erling Haaland needs a rest - yet so far this year has turned to him in neither the good nor the bad moments. As senior players struggle through game after game failing to impress, Guardiola was asked ahead of Aston Villa why he hasn't played his younger players and suggested he didn't want to burden them with the poor form.

"That is a good question, but in that period that we have, I'm going to make a responsibility for the senior players," he said. "The last game, for example, against United, I thought to put Jahmai [Simpson-Pusey] who could have played really good, but to put that pressure in that situation for the young players playing in that position is a little bit...

"Maybe it is unfair, maybe I'm wrong - it has happened in the past - but I had the feeling that in the bad moments the players who have to show and prove who we are as a team and what they have done in the past, I have to give them the keys to try to lead us to try and turn around the situation.

"We have to do it, all of us, but of course there are players that have more experience in that position. I'm not saying it's not going to happen, but so far I've decided that way.

"Always they are ready. The young players always have the ability, they don't defend anything in terms of the past, they are free and they can do it. Yeah, absolutely."