Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Ruben Dias are all available to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday night.
De Bruyne had seemingly emerged as a doubt for the contest at the Etihad Stadium after the playmaker missed first-team training on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, both Dias and Stones were spotted in training, with the former returning after a lengthy spell out with a hamstring injury.
Indeed, Dias has not played for the Citizens since sustaining his injury while on international duty with Portugal at the 2022 World Cup, while fellow centre-back Stones has missed the last two matches due to fitness issues.
However, Guardiola has provided a positive update on all three City stars ahead of their important top-flight fixture against Spurs.
Asked about De Bruyne's availability at a press conference on Wednesday, Guardiola said: "He had a personal issue and was not training (on Tuesday). Today he is back."
On Dias and Stones, the Spaniard added: "They are back. In the last two training sessions they have trained really well and they are in contention.
"We will train this afternoon. We will see the way we have to play and who is going to play."
Man City head into Thursday's game off the back of successive defeats against Southampton and Manchester United, losing 2-0 to the former in the EFL Cup and 2-1 against the latter in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Citizens are now sitting eight points behind league leaders Arsenal, with Guardiola stating after the Manchester derby defeat that his side "cannot win" the title.
Guardiola, who is celebrating his 52nd birthday today, has now urged his players to forget about the Premier League table and focus solely on returning to winning ways against Spurs.
"Pressure is the next game," the Spaniard added. "We are not able to think about big expectations apart from winning the next game.
"If [Arsenal] are eight points in front it's because they deserve to be there. They have been better than us so far but there are still many games to play – it's how we come back.
"Always when we are behind I say don't think about. We caught up with Liverpool in last years. Just think about the next game and after we see what happens. We have been in this position many times in the past. It's not the first time we are there."
Guardiola has also admitted that his side been off the boil in terms of creating chances, having registered only one shot on target in their last two matches.
Top scorer Erling Braut Haaland has been starved of service in the final third during this period, and Guardiola has insisted that it is his "duty" to get the best out of his attacking players.
"When we play good it is I think it is because of tactical reasons and when we don't play good it is tactical reasons. I have the duty to find the solution to that," said the City boss. "This is what I have to do. It is not a mentality reason. This group of players? Not at all.
"The reason is the creativity, the play hasn't been as good as usual. Sometimes to have chances you need a good build-up, spread the defensive lines. We struggle the last two games.
"We have played really good with [Haaland], [but we need] to play better, to provide balls to him as much as possible."
City have failed to win their last two Premier League home games against Brentford and Everton, while they lost both home and away fixtures against Tottenham last season, including a 3-2 defeat at the Etihad in February last year. body check tags ::
