Rodri and Oleksandr Zinchenko are both facing injury lay-offs, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said.
Midfielder Rodri hobbled out of City’s Champions League clash with Atalanta on Tuesday with a hamstring problem and will be out for the next few weeks. Left-back Zinchenko has undergone minor surgery on a knee problem and could be sidelined for up to six weeks.
Asked about Zinchenko at a press conference to preview Saturday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa, Guardiola said: “He had a contact with a knee, felt something in the bone and has to stop. He had something to clean up the knee. It was not a big issue.” He added the Ukraine international would be out for “five or six weeks”.
On Rodri he said: “They told me after the [November] international break maybe he will be ready again.” Rodri had started in defence against Atalanta despite specialist centre-back John Stones being available again.
Guardiola, however, did not feel Stones was match-fit: “It’s not about the first choice, it’s about being fit. He has had many injuries. That’s why he couldn’t play.”