Manchester City are nearing a full squad again as another defender returned to training ahead of the Premier League trip to Southampton.
After seven players missed the recent FA Cup trip to Swindon with a mixture of Covid and injury reasons, and more players missed the subsequent clash with Chelsea, City are now welcoming back players as they look to consolidate their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Youngster Liam Delap made a welcome return to training this week after an injury-hit first half of the season has restricted him to just four outings for the academy, while Nathan Ake is the latest player to be back on the training field after the in-form Dutchman wasn't fit enough to face Chelsea.
Two other players who missed that Chelsea clash, however, remained absent from training on Wednesday and their participation at St Mary's on Saturday teatime could be in doubt.
We looked over the training footage put out by City and picked out the biggest talking points.
Ake's back
While Nathan Ake wasn't featured in the training video City published on Wednesday, where players were put through their paces with shooting drills, he was prominent on photos the club put out at the same time. He was seen apparently warming up with Ruben Dias, and then posed in the 'winning team' photograph at the end of the session - seemingly after a successful mini-game.
After missing the Chelsea clash for fitness reasons, Ake's return gives another option against Southampton - although John Stones and Aymeric Laporte did well on Saturday, and Ruben Dias will also be pushing for a recall. Liam Delap, who returned earlier in the week, was also in the session, in a further boost to City as he builds up his fitness.
Two players missing
Ake was one of three players to miss the Chelsea game, and is so far the only one seen to have returned to training. Aleks Zinchenko has not been spotted yet, with City putting his absence down to receiving a knock, while Cole Palmer is the second player yet to return.
Palmer, who missed the weekend's action for fitness reasons, was at the Academy Stadium on Saturday night to watch the under-23s beat Manchester United, although he wasn't fit enough to face either United in the evening or Chelsea at lunchtime. He may now be a doubt to face Southampton.
Ederson on form
As players jumped over small hurdles, went up for an imaginary header, then dribbled through a slalom of metal figures before playing a one-two with a coach, the next step in the drill shown on video was to face Ederson on their weaker foot.
Most players deceived the keeper by shooting for the near post to wrong-foot the Brazilian, rather than go for power, but those that did get a good connection found Ederson in great form as he rose to push a number of efforts over the bar. There was also some decent stops in a team attacking drill, but he couldn't keep out Ruben Dias' well-taken effort from an angle low into the far corner.
After making one vital one-on-one save against Chelsea, City can be confident of Ederson being in top form at a crucial time of the season.
Foden's trim
Phil Foden was one of the players who smartly finished past Ederson, and was then on Ake's 'winning team' later in the session. During training, he sported his recent new blond look, although social media later showed he had returned to an all-black dye.
Given his form and confidence, City won't mind whatever colour Foden's hair is, as his frequent changes are clearly working.
22 players train
On photos and in the training video, it looks like 22 players trained for City on Wednesday, with Zinchenko and Palmer the only absentees. Youngsters like Romeo Lavia and Luke Mbete, who are often seen in training, weren't there but were likely recovering after their FA Youth Cup defeat away at Brighton on Tuesday.
22-man squad training before Southampton clash: Ederson, Steffen, Carson, Walker, Cancelo, Dias, Ake, Laporte, Stones, Egan-Riley, Wilson-Esbrand, Fernandinho, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Foden, Sterling, Jesus, Delap, Kayky.
