Man City: Pep Lijnders reveals John Stones and Ruben Dias injury latest before Chelsea showdown

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·06 de abril de 2026

Man City: Pep Lijnders reveals John Stones and Ruben Dias injury latest before Chelsea showdown

Man City were without both central defenders against Liverpool

Ruben Dias and John Stones are expected to return to action soon after missing Manchester City's FA Cup quarter-final win over Liverpool, assistant manager Pep Lijnders has said.

Vídeos OneFootball

Dias has been out since being withdrawn at half-time during City's 2-1 Champions League loss to Real Madrid on March 17, and the Portugal defender did not join up with his country during the recent international break.

Stones pulled out of international duty with England, having been an unused substitute in City's Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal on March 22, and the 31-year-old will want to prove his fitness ahead of this summer's World Cup.

His last appearance was in the 3-1 FA Cup win over Newcastle on March 7 when he played the entire 90 minutes.

Lijnders said neither Dias nor Stones has a long-term injury problem as Man City prepare to face Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend.

"Ruben got a knock (on Friday) in the last minutes of training," Lijnders said. "We are assessing it. I think he had a scan again (on Saturday) so we have to see.

"John, to be honest, I think he will not be long-term but he was not available (on Saturday)."

John Stones has not played for a month

Getty Images

Man City's reward for Saturday's convincing 4-0 win over Arne Slot's Liverpool is a semi-final against Championship side Southampton after they beat Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday night.

If City overcome the Saints at Wembley Stadium later this month to progress to a fourth consecutive FA Cup final, they will face either Chelsea or Leeds.