Pep Guardiola hands worrying fitness update on Manchester City trio ahead of UEFA Super Cup

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola provided an update on John Stones, Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne as his side began their title defence with a 3-0 win over Burnley on Friday evening.

A first-half brace from Erling Haaland put the visitors in cruise control before Rodri added a third after 75 minutes to ensure the three points for Pep Guardiola’s men.

John Stones and Ruben Dias both did not travel with the Manchester City squad to Turf Moor, with Guardiola explaining their respective absences on either side of the game on Friday.

Stones is recovering from a hip injury whilst Dias suffered a concussion in training ahead of the trip, as Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji lined up in central defence for City’s Premier League opener.

Josko Gvardiol came on as a substitute after completing a £78 million move from RB Leipzig last week, which poses further questions on what the coming weeks hold for Aymeric Laporte.

However, City suffered a crucial blow as Kevin De Bruyne went off early on against Burnley and had to be replaced by Mateo Kovacic, who was brought on to make his league debut for the Champions League winners.

Guardiola provided an update on De Bruyne after the game, indicating that City are likely to miss the Belgian for a while as he recovers from another hamstring injury.

The Manchester City manager said: “We’ve lost him (De Bruyne) for a time. We have to reflect and talk to the doctors and physios about what happened. He has to be relaxed, recover and come back. He was feeling really good and playing really good. Unfortunately, injured again.”

Dias will take a week off as per protocol around concussion injuries and while Stones is unlikely to be involved in City’s UEFA Super Cup meeting with Sevilla in midweek, the England international is expected to return in time to face Newcastle next weekend.