Man City duo Rodri and Mateo Kovacic ruled out of Newcastle clash | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that midfield duo Rodri and Mateo Kovacic are the only absentees ahead of Sunday’s trip to Newcastle United.

The Spanish manager confirmed that his City squad had avoided any new injuries after returning from the international break, but Rodri and Kovacic are still injured.

However, the £462,500-per-week midfield duo are making significant strides in their recovery and edging closer to returning to training with the rest of the City squad.

Rodri has been out since the start of November, while Kovacic hasn’t featured for City since the 2-0 Champions League win against Villarreal in October.

After heading into the international break on the back of a four-match winning streak, City will be looking to keep that momentum going when they visit St James’ Park.

But they’ll have to do so without Rodri and Kovacic. Kovacic is still in rehabilitation, while Rodri is pushing hard in training, although City are cautious as they look to avoid another setback.

“Everybody is fit except Kova and Rodri,” Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference. “Rodri is making good steps – it’s almost three weeks since his last setback.

“He knows he has to take time to recover well mentally and physically and to be consistent from now until the end.”

City are gearing up for a relentless run of fixtures, with matches coming almost twice a week until the next international break.

However, it’s still a decent opportunity for City to rack up points and cement their position as title contenders.

Three of their next four Premier League games, including the upcoming trip to Tyneside, are against teams around the relegation zone.

Fatigue could play a significant role in their upcoming fixture run, with Champions League games against Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid sandwiched between those four matches.

However, the coming fixtures will give the Cityzens a chance to either keep pace with Arsenal at the top of the table or close the gap.