“We miss him a lot” – Mateo Kovacic sends message to Rodri after Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1 at Etihad Stadium

Mateo Kovacic has become the latest Manchester City star to send out a personal message to Rodri, who is ruled out for the remainder of the season through injury.

Pep Guardiola’s players were forced to come from behind once again to claim all three points, and avoided a late scare against Fulham on Saturday afternoon, as Marco Silva’s side put on a strong showing away from home.

Andreas Pereira opened the scoring for the visitors on the counter-attack in one of several signs of danger for the hosts, converting from close range after a sensational back-heeled cross from Raul Jimenez.

A Mateo Kovacic brace either side of the half-time interval would move Manchester City ahead before Jeremy Doku would add an insurance goal late on from the edge of the penalty area, securing all the points despite a Rodrigo Muniz effort.

Speaking following Manchester City’s final outing and win over Fulham before the international break, the scorer of two goals against the Cottagers was keen to point out the challenge of filling in for Rodri.

“I’m playing at the moment there so I need to cover for Rodri,” Mateo Kovacic said. “We miss him a lot, I think any team would miss a player like Rodri.”

The Croatian continued by sending a message to the Ballon d’Or contender, “We wish him a speedy recovery and that he comes back in good shape as soon as possible. But for now we have to adapt and for sure the manager has a lot of options so we can rotate.

“We play every three days and every game is a tough one. It is not easy and we have to adapt to the schedule. It is what it is. We have to be in top form every day.”

Many of Manchester City’s stars will now take on a two-week break from club duties to represent their respective national teams across UEFA Nations League matches and FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Among those to be absent however will be the injured Kevin De Bruyne, who has indicated to Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco that he will stay away from the side for October and November’s matches with his own health and fitness in mind.