Kyle Walker cools injury fears ahead of Champions League final

The 32-year-old was withdrawn in the closing stages of last weekend's FA Cup final triumph over rivals Manchester United due to a back problem.

Walker was a notable absentee from City's open training session at City Football Academy on Tuesday afternoon, with Pep Guardiola confirming that he did not want to take any risks with the right-back's fitness.

"[Walker] had a disturbance in his back. Yesterday he was not good," Guardiola said at a press conference. "Today he was a little bit better. We didn't want to take a risk and we will see in the next days."

City's No.2 has since reassured the club's supporters that he is "completely fine" and will be ready for Saturday's showpiece event in Istanbul.

Speaking to Sky Sports News reporter Ben Ransom, Walker said: "I'm fine, I'm just getting old! No, I'm completely fine. It's just an extra day of recovery.

"I've played a lot over the last number of weeks, so the manager said 'Just stay inside and come Saturday you will be raring to go'.

"I'm fine, the minutes that I've played when everyone else was injured, I was there digging my heels in and getting through it. I won't be missing the Champions League final for anything."

Walker missed the majority of City's Champions League group stage due to injury and he has since started three times in the knockout rounds, including both legs of the 5-1 aggregate victory over Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Man City are hoping to become the first English club since rivals Man United in 1999 to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season, and Walker has urged his teammates to 'take this opportunity' on Saturday to ensure that they are compared with the greatest teams.

"The Champions League is there for us to grab now," Walker told reporters via @CityXtra. "If we as a group of players want to be connected or associated with the team of Manchester United that went on and did great things, we need to go and take this opportunity. These opportunities don't come around too often.

"Obviously we did go and win the four English competitions when we did the 'Fourmidables', but we were nowhere near it in the Champions League. So to finally get here in the grasp of one game of 90 minutes, hopefully we can do it."

Walker, who has started 31 of his 38 appearances in all competitions this term, will likely retain his place in the back three, pending a late fitness check, alongside Ruben Dias and either Nathan Ake or Manuel Akanji.