Two more Manchester City stars hand Pep Guardiola major fitness boost ahead of Premier League and FA Cup finale | OneFootball

Manchester City have seen their squad options further bolstered at the most crucial part of the season with the return of two more injured player.

Pep Guardiola’s side have three Premier League games remaining as they look to secure qualification to next season’s UEFA Champions League after surrendering their league crown to Arne Slot and Liverpool this term.

A strong run of recent form has put third-placed Manchester City in pole position to push as far up the league table in the run-in and the a second-place finish could also be on the cards as second-placed Arsenal encounter a testing run of games to finish their league campaign.

City will face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday 17th May and after a sub-standard season where they did not mount a genuine challenge for the Premier League or Champions League, the best part of the campaign could yet be waiting for the Blues if they can overcome Oliver Glasner’s side in London.

A key underlying reason for City’s struggles this season has been injuries across the board, particularly in defence, where club officials was forced to enter the January transfer market and sign the pair of Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji have all struggled for fitness at various points of the season and Ruben Dias – who also spent a brief period on the treatment table – and Josko Gvardiol have been two of Guardiola’s most trusted lieutenants in what has been a strange, uncharacteristic season for the former Premier League champions.

Akanji has returned to action in recent weeks as Manchester City fans awaited on positive updates on the respective fitness status of Ake and Stones – who are amongst the candidates amongst Guardiola’s current squad to potentially leave in the summer transfer window.

In a recent boost to Guardiola, images released by Manchester City on Tuesday evening confirmed the return of Oscar Bobb to first-team activities once more, after the Norwegian had sustained a minor hamstring problem in recent weeks to further hamper his season.

Elsewhere and Nathan Ake has completed his own recovery after he undertook surgery following a reoccurrence of a long-standing injury problem that has complicated his season as a whole, and significantly impacted his availability for the club.

Ballon d’Or holder Rodri has returned to first-team training and could make his return to action at the Club World Cup, with Guardiola and his coaching staff understandably wary of possibly rushing the Spaniard back to action in the run-in.