Man City given Jack Grealish injury headache that angry Pep Guardiola will hate

The not-so-good news is that Carsley cannot guarantee his fitness, and will risk Pep Guardiola’s anger by potentially playing him before he is ready to return for City.

Guardiola had previously ruled Grealish out until after the international break, although he had done the same with Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku and both have returned in the last week, as has Kevin De Bruyne. Guardiola has made clear that he gets angry when national teams risk his players’ fitness, especially in non-competitive games, and this latest update could elicit a similar response.

Carsley confirmed that Grealish has trained this week for City and insists he won’t take any risks with a handful of doubtful players.

“Jack’s been training at City for the last couple of days. So we’re hoping that we’ll assess him when he comes into camp,” Carsley said. “Jack is in the same position as maybe four or five other players that there’s question marks over whether they’re going to be involved or not. We try and give them as long as we can.

“We’ve got almost a standby list ready, that if we were to lose two or three players, that we’re capable of replacing them. And I think as well, I don’t think this is the time of year to be gambling, or taking chances with players. If there’s a risk that they’re not fit, we won’t take that chance.”

Guardiola will be reassured by Carsley’s stance on no risks, while the England coach also said he would take the lead from City regarding Grealish’s fitness and availability.

“We definitely wouldn’t put a player at risk. We take the lead off the clubs,” he confirmed. “Really happy with the communication that we’ve had from them. We’ll assess it again on Sunday.”

England did omit John Stones as he continues to be sidelined with a foot problem, but Kyle Walker, Rico Lewis and Phil Foden are all included in the squad.