Pep Guardiola issues Nathan Ake fitness update in honest assessment of Manchester City defensive crisis

Manchester City will conduct tests to identify the nature of Nathan Ake’s latest injury setback after he came off against Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, says Pep Guardiola.

In what has become an increasingly common theme for Pep Guardiola’s central defenders this term, Nathan Ake’s fitness troubles compounded when the 30-year-old was replaced by Ruben Dias at the interval against the Championship outfit.

A brace of headers from Nico O’Reilly and a third goal from Kevin De Bruyne helped Manchester City come from behind and pick up a 3-1 win over Argyle to set up a FA Cup quarter-final tie with Bournemouth later this month.

The extent of Ake’s latest injury concern is yet to be revealed, but manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he feared the club could lose the defender for “a long time” having picked up form in recent months following a disastrous run of results in November and December.

The January arrivals of young centre half duo Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis have alleviated Manchester City’s defensive fitness crisis and Pep Guardiola is already reaping the rewards of a show of faith in the pair, particularly the impressive Uzbek international.

Pep Guardiola needs every pair of legs he can get for his side’s Premier League and FA Cup run-in and the Catalan coach has admitted he has not been able to rely on his seasoned defenders this season.

“Tomorrow (Sunday) we’ll do the test, but yeah, he (Nathan Ake) struggles sometimes with the feet, with the bone. And apparently, you know – yeah, it’s all season it’s been like that,” the Manchester City boss said.

He continued, “Unfortunately the central defenders, they cannot be (consistently injury-free), hopefully the young ones (Khusanov and Reis) – they don’t have a lot of scars in their lives – can sustain and help us until the end.”

Khusanov, signed from RC Lens, has already featured in high-profile clashes against Chelsea, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Liverpool, and would be expected to start alongside Ruben Dias against Nottingham Forest this weekend as City await an update on Ake.