Manchester City are hopeful that further medical assessments will confirm that the injury picked up by Kalvin Phillips was less serious than it looked.
Phillips impressed against Barcelona in the holding midfield role - his first start for the club - but signalled to the bench immediately that he needed to come off after a clash around the hour mark that saw him take a blow to his arm and shoulder. The former Leeds star has previously suffered two significant shoulder injuries and looked in discomfort when he reappeared at full-time.
Losing Phillips for any length of time would be a considerable blow for a squad that is incredibly small to be competing in four competitions. City’s first Champions League match is in under two weeks while they are also in midweek action in the Premier League next week as all organisers look to cram fixtures in before the winter World Cup.
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However, City are relaxed over the extent of the blow and the player did not seem overly concerned either. Phillips will have further assessments over the next few days before a decision is made over his availability for Crystal Palace at home this weekend.
The Blues will be looking to bounce back in the league after drawing 3-3 at Newcastle last time out, and Guardiola also knows that further dropped points would place more scrutiny on their trip to Barcelona. There can be no doubting the good intentions behind raising funds to help a friend and help fight a horrible illness, but adding an extra fixture to an already-busy schedule places more scrutiny on the manager to ensure his team is fresh enough.
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