Pep Guardiola has revealed Kyle Walker is the latest City player to potentially face a spell on the sidelines having been taken off at half-time in their 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton on Saturday.
Walker, 28, felt a tightness in his hamstring shortly before the break at Wembley, and with Sergio Aguero and Oleksandr Zinchenko both currently out for the Citizens and facing last-minute fitness checks ahead of their first-leg Champions League quarter-final clash, an injury to City’s first-choice right-back would signal a major blow to their domestic and European ambitions.
Guardiola revealed that Sergio Aguero was a possibility for the FA Cup semi-final at Brighton but was not risked, as City encounter a gruelling schedule that will unquestionably define their season.
The Citizens face Spurs three times in 11 days before travelling to Old Trafford for one of the most anticipated Manchester derbies in recent years, with both teams holding the potential to dictate the courses of one another’s seasons.
With Aguero and Zinchenko on the sidelines and doubtful ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash, left-back Benjamin Mendy gaining 79 minutes of action will have been a welcome relief to Guardiola, with the Frenchman set to play a potentially pivotal role in City’s run-in for an unprecedented quadruple.
City do have right-back cover in the form of Danilo, but ahead of an unparalleled period of importance in Guardiola’s City tenure, the Spaniard will be praying and sweating on the fitness of Walker in the build-up to their game against Spurs at their new stadium on Wednesday.
