City’s manager says injuries have impacted his usual approach to the competition he has won four times
Pep Guardiola will have to guide his Manchester City side through their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Brentford with a depleted squad.
City host Brentford on Wednesday night knowing a place in the semi-finals is at stake, but several regulars will be unavailable. Jeremy Doku remains sidelined with a leg injury and did not feature in Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win at Crystal Palace.
Asked when the winger might return, Guardiola said: “Sunderland in the New Year maybe. We will see.”
John Stones and Rodri will also miss the match with thigh and hamstring problems respectively, while Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
City are expected to rotate, with James Trafford set to start in goal ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Guardiola suggested several squad and academy players could also be involved, with a league game against West Ham coming just three days later.
“James is going to play and all the players that didn’t play recently are going to play and some from the Academy,” Guardiola said. “Three days after that we have West Ham.”
The City manager said that injuries have impacted his usual approach to the competition he has won four times.
“I’m not saying it’s not the priority to get to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup,” said Guardiola. “But normally when we achieve it, it’s when we have all the squad, no injuries and we can rotate.”
