Nathan Ake injury: Man City suffer fresh blow as Pep Guardiola praises double transfer decision | OneFootball

The Dutchman’s bad luck with injuries continued in the FA Cup tie

Pep Guardiola has discussed a serious injury blow for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake following the FA Cup fifth round win over Plymouth.

After returning to winning ways away at Tottenham three days earlier, a completed changed Man City survived a huge scare to beat the Championship outfit at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne, back in the starting lineup, was on the scoresheet and provided two assists for Nico O’Reilly as City confirmed their place in the FA Cup quarter-final.

With City back in action next Saturday against Nottingham Forest, not to mention an upcoming FA Cup quarter-final tie, Guardiola is bracing himself to be without the Dutchman for an extended period.

Speaking to reporters after the win over Plymouth, Guardiola said: “Now again we have central defenders out. I think we are going to miss Nathan.

“I’m so grateful to the club for bringing Vitor and Khusanov to the club otherwise we would not have any chance to qualify for the Champions League next season or fight for the FA Cup; we would have just Ruben.

“It’s a miracle they are here to help us because the problems we have, have happened all season.

“The mood is good. I have a feeling in the last month we have been much better. Against Liverpool we played really good. Against Chelsea really good. Forget about Madrid, they were better. We were miles away from where we could expect to be.

“Step-by-step, I see good things, everybody is connected. We are going to do the battles to be in the Champions League next season.”

If Ake is set for a long spell on the sidelines, he joins fellow central defenders John Stones and Manuel Akanji in the treatment room and they aren’t expected to feature again until May at the earliest.