Pep Guardiola press conference: Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and John Stones injury updates ahead of Liverpool | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has provided an update on his side’s fitness ahead of Sunday evening’s Premier League clash with Liverpool at Anfield.

The Blues returned to winning ways in midweek as a brace from Omar Marmoush and another goal from Tijjani Reijnders helped City set up a Carabao Cup final date with Arsenal at Wembley courtesy of a 5-1 aggregate semi-final win over Newcastle United.

Bernardo Silva was missing from the matchday squad against Eddie Howe’s side on Wednesday night, with Guardiola admitting the Portuguese was an ‘incredible doubt’ to recover in time and feature against Liverpool on Sunday.

Jeremy Doku also remained absent against Newcastle United, a week on from going off against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League, with Marmoush coming in and making the most of a opportunity handed to him to impress.

Ruben Dias also returned to the matchday squad against Newcastle United, having started to train with the first-team as normal after recovering from an injury he sustained in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in January.

Mateo Kovacic, John Stones and Savinho were also missing against Newcastle, with City needing as many players as they can rely upon as they contest for silverware on several fronts in the latter stages of the season.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola provided a thorough fitness update on his squad ahead of Sunday evening’s monumental Premier League battle with Liverpool at Anfield.

“I don’t know yet, tomorrow (we will be training),” said Guardiola when asked whether Silva will recover to face Liverpool.

Dias was aiming to return to action against Liverpool in the final stages of his recovery. On whether the 28-year-old is ready for Sunday, Guardiola added: “He’s back, we’ll see if (he can) play minutes for us but good news for us.”

In a major boost for Manchester City’s depleted backline, Guardiola confirmed that John Stones returned to full first-team training on Thursday.

“John (Stones) made yesterday the first training session with the team. He’s step by step coming back,” Guardiola said on the England international, who is arguably unlikely to be involved against Liverpool.

City must win against Liverpool to remain on Arsenal’s heels and turn the ship around after managing just one triumph in their last six Premier League games, with the Blues six points adrift of the league leaders heading into this weekend’s fixtures.