Pep Guardiola has admitted that he is unsure when Kevin De Bruyne will return to first-team action after missing Manchester City's 2-1 Premier League win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
The Citizens have climbed above Arsenal to the top of the table as goals from record-breaker Erling Braut Haaland and Julian Alvarez helped them secure maximum points for the eighth successive league games.
Alvarez came into the starting lineup at the expense of De Bruyne, who was left out of the matchday squad entirely just four days after putting in a man-of-the-match performance against title rivals Arsenal.
Guardiola revealed after the 4-1 home win over the Gunners that De Bruyne requested to be taken off in the second half due to "some niggles in his legs".
The Catalan boss then stated in his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Fulham that everyone in his first-team squad would be fit except for Nathan Ake, who is still recovering from a hamstring problem.
However, De Bruyne was not selected to feature against the Cottagers, with Guardiola citing that the Belgian playmaker is recovering from an unspecified injury.
Speaking to Sky Sports before kickoff, Guardiola said: "He doesn't feel good. He has some injury and could not travel.
Asked whether he would be available for selection in the near future, Guardiola added: "No, I don't know."
Nevertheless, City managed to cope without the presence of De Bruyne and now sit one point clear of Arsenal at the Premier League summit with a game in hand.
Guardiola has insisted that his Citizens side must continue their impressive winning run if they are to retain the top-flight title, including next Wednesday's clash with West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium.
"Wednesday is one of the games in hand and if we win that we will be top of the league," Guardiola told mancity.com. "Still it's not that situation. The moment we have the same games that will be the reality, now it's one game in hand and after Tuesday we will have two games in hand but still it will be really close.
"Arsenal have the ability to win all of the games they have left. The mindset is to recover for the guys who played a lot of minutes to be ready for Wednesday. After it's Leeds again.
"We have to go to Goodison Park [to play Everton] after Real Madrid. The game there will be similar to this. They play to stay in the Premier League, they are a big club historically.
"It is about mentally now about how we have to recover. We have six games left and try to win, every win we will be closer."
Guardiola added: "The next two games will define a lot. Two games at home, step-by-step, game-by-game. We think that our opponents is not going to drop many points, that is the mentality. Be humble enough to accept every game will be similar especially away."
After facing West Ham, Man City will play host to Leeds United three days later, before turning their attention to the Champions League semi-finals with a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu where they will lock horns with holders Real Madrid in the first leg on May 9. body check tags ::
