Manchester City have been handed a major injury boost as defender John Stones has returned to first-team training.
The England international has missed each of the Citizens' last three matches in all competitions since sustaining an ankle injury against his former club Everton at the end of last year.
Stones has struggled with niggling injuries throughout this season and has subsequently featured in only 13 games across all competitions, completing the full 90 minutes on just three occasions.
However, Citizens supporters have been boosted by the news that Stones took part in his first full training session with his teammates over the weekend.
After beating Newcastle United 3-2 in the Premier League on January 13, Man City flew out to Abu Dhabi last Thursday for a warm-weather training camp during their mini winter break.
Pep Guardiola's side are scheduled to return to the UK early next week ahead of an FA Cup fourth-round trip to Tottenham Hotspur next Friday evening.
While the return of Stones to training is greatly welcomed by Man City, they are still waiting on striker Erling Haaland and defender Manuel Akanji who remain in the treatment room.
Haaland has been sidelined since early December and has missed each of the last nine matches in all competitions with a "bone stress reaction" in his foot.
Guardiola revealed after the win at Newcastle that the Norwegian is unlikely to return to first-team action before the end of this month, seemingly ruling him out of City's next two games against Spurs in the FA Cup and Burnley in the Premier League.
Akanji, meanwhile, picked up a knee problem in the FA Cup third-round victory over Huddersfield Town two weeks ago, and although his injury is not thought to be serious, it remains to be seen when he will be ready to return to training.
First-choice goalkeeper Ederson was forced off early in City's win at Newcastle with a knock, but the Brazilian has since returned to training in Abu Dhabi and is expected to be fit to face Tottenham next Friday.
Man City have also been boosted by the return of Belgian duo Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku this month, the former scored and provided an assist against Newcastle, and both players are expected to be involved against Spurs. body check tags ::
