Guardiola provides Grealish update as £100m man misses Norwich game with injury

Pep Guardiola's preparations for Manchester City's Champions League return were dealt a blow when Jack Grealish suffered an injury in training, but the news around the record signing is better than expected.

Grealish was left out of the matchday squad for City's league game against Norwich City with a shin problem, prompting fears he could be out of action for up to a month.

However, Guardiola suggested it might be hasty to rule the England man out for more than one game at this stage, ahead of a busy few weeks at home and in Europe.

City take on Sporting CP on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, and the manager hinted that Grealish could yet return at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

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Grealish has suffered shin injuries in the past, during his time on the books of Aston Villa.

He missed more than a dozen games in the 2018-19 season before returning to help Villa win promotion, while he was also out of action last season between February and May.

The 26-year-old missed most of the run-in last season, only returning for the final four games of the season before travelling to Euro 2020, but Guardiola suggested the latest injury is less severe.

"He's injured. A little bit what he had last season at Villa, less of course," Guardiola told Sky Sports ahead of the Norwich game.

"Training after Brentford he wasn't good, we make a test, he wasn't ready today. Hopefully ready for Tuesday."

The England international had come off the bench for the final 23 minutes at the Brentford Community Stadium, but was left out of the matchday squad for the trip to Carrow Road.

There were a couple of other attention-grabbing decisions as Guardiola selected his team to face Norwich, with Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne both starting on the bench, but the manager defended his selection ahead of kick-off.

"I have done all my career after playing three days ago and playing three days later, I don't like to play the same players the same games. The players who pay I have full confidence," he said.

The game on Tuesday will be City's third in a week, and one would expect the manager to ring the changes once more in order to counter the threat posed by the reigning Portuguese champions.

Sporting finished second in their group, behind Ajax but above Borussia Dortmund and Besiktas, and have won nine of their 11 home league games this term to sit second in the table behind a Porto side who held them to a 2-2 draw on Friday night.