Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Erling Haaland and John Stones are ruled out of Saturday's Premier League clash with Newcastle United at St James' Park.
Haaland has been sidelined for over a month and has missed each of the Citizens' last eight games in all competitions with a "bone stress reaction" in his foot.
The Norwegian made a welcomed return to first-team training just over a week ago, but he was not named in the matchday squad for City's 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup third round last weekend.
Stones, meanwhile, has not be involved in the club's last two matches since sustaining an ankle injury against his former club Everton at the end of last year.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday ahead of Man City's trip to Newcastle, Guardiola has revealed that he is still having to cope without both Haaland and Stones, while Jack Grealish is a minor doubt due to illness.
"Jack [Grealish] has been sick. Hopefully today he's back. Erling [Haaland] is out and John [Stones] is out. I think that's everything," Guardiola told reporters.
On a positive note, Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne is ready to start his first game for Man City in over five months after recovering from a hamstring injury.
The last time that the playmaker was named in Man City's starting lineup was away against Burnley on the opening weekend of the season when he tore his hamstring, an injury which required surgery and a lengthy period of rehabilitation.
De Bruyne has since returned to first-team training and made his long-awaited comeback against Huddersfield, providing an assist for fellow returnee Jeremy Doku just 17 minutes after coming on as a substitute midway through the second half.
Asked whether the Belgian is in a position to start in Saturday's game against Newcastle, Guardiola simply replied: "Yep".
The Catalan boss added: "I saw him yesterday and he feels good and dynamic. He played well, better than the sessions before Huddersfield. It was five months, he was high and low in training as he recovered which was normal but he's getting better.
"He had a few days off then trained, then we have warm weather training in Abu Dhabi which helps him prepare."
Meanwhile, there was no mention of Manuel Akanji at Guardiola's press conference; the defender was forced off in the first half of the win over Huddersfield with an apparent knee injury.
However, Akanji's issue is not believed to be a serious one, as the Switzerland international has returned to training this week and could therefore be in contention to feature in the travelling squad to St James' Park.
Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips both missed last weekend's match due to illness, but the Citizens duo should be fit to return to the matchday squad against Newcastle.
Man City currently sit third in the Premier League table and can move to within two points of leaders Liverpool with a victory over Newcastle, who are 11 points and six places further back in ninth spot. body check tags ::
