Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender John Stones is available for Saturday's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 28-year-old sustained a hamstring injury while on international duty with England last month and has subsequently missed City's last five games across all competitions.
However, Stones returned to first-team training on Thursday and Guardiola has revealed that the centre-back will be included in Saturday's matchday squad.
The Spaniard has also provided and update on Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker, who have both been recovering from respective shoulder and groin surgeries.
Phillips has struggled with injuries since joining the Citizens from Leeds United over the summer, making only three substitute appearances in all competitions including his most recent outing at home against Borussia Dortmund on September 14.
Walker, meanwhile, has not played for City since picking up a groin injury just before half time in the 6-3 derby win over Manchester United at the beginning of this month.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference on Friday, Guardiola said: "John [Stones] has been training the last two days. Tomorrow [he will be] on the list. Kalvin [Phillips] is recovering really well.
"I didn't speak with doctors about Kyle [Walker]. Hopefully they can help him and he can go to the World Cup if selected."
It remains to be seen whether either Phillips or Walker will return within the next 22 days when City have seven fixtures across all competitions before the World Cup break, while Stones will be hoping to build up his match fitness having now recovered from injury.
Man City head into Saturday's clash with Brighton after suffering their first defeat of the season against Liverpool in a fiery contest at Anfield last weekend.
After the match, Liverpool accused City supporters of "vile chants" about the Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies as well as vandalising sections of the away end with graffiti.
City, meanwhile, allege that coins were thrown at Guardiola during the game by Liverpool supporters, while their team bus was attacked and left damaged after leaving Anfield, with missiles thrown towards it cracking the windscreen.
Guardiola has apologised for the chants from City fans last weekend and although a number of unsavoury incidents occurred during and after the match, the Spaniard believes the fixture has not become toxic.
"I didn't hear the chants. If it happened, I am so sorry," said Guardiola. "It does not represent who we are as a team, as a club, if this happened. But don't worry, we can behave perfectly [after] our mistakes. Not a problem."
The Spaniard continued: "No, I don't think it is [toxic] From our side I am pretty sure of that."
The Citizens, who have slipped four points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, will be looking to return to winning ways on Saturday when they face seventh-placed Brighton, who are yet to win under new head coach Roberto De Zerbi. body check tags ::
