Pep Guardiola provides Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte fitness updates ahead of Bournemouth clash

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola faced the press ahead of his side’s trip to face AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday evening.

The Premier League champions were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw in the opening leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie against RB Leipzig in Germany on Wednesday.

Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring in the first half but an underwhelming City showing in the second half saw Josko Gvardiol level for the hosts in what proved to result in a second draw within a week for Pep Guardiola’s men.

City have the chance to return to winning ways against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday as they look to close down the gap to leaders Arsenal, who are two points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over second-placed City ahead of a trip to the King Power Stadium this weekend.

Kevin De Bruyne, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones all missed City’s European trip in midweek, with the former two suffering from illness and Stones still recovering from a hamstring injury sustained a few weeks ago.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola provided an update on the aforementioned trio and if they will be available for selection at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

The Catalan revealed that Kevin De Bruyne is expected to return to full training on Friday, which could hint towards a possible return for the Belgium international against Forest.

Guardiola added that John Stones could take part in partial training on Friday afternoon but Aymeric Laporte is expected to remain unavailable for Saturday.

A potential return for De Bruyne could see Guardiola revert to a three-man defence accompanied by an overload of midfielders – a system deployed by the 52-year-old in City’s 3-1 win away at Arsenal last week.

Laporte’s absence could mean Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji keep their positions in central defence, with the versatile and ever-reliable Nathan Ake positioned at left back.

It remains to be seen whether John Stones, who featured at right-back on City’s run to the Champions League semi-final last season, features on Saturday ahead of a key FA Cup fifth-round tie against Bristol City next week.