Manchester City have welcomed four players back to training to raise hopes that their injury crisis could be over.
Pep Guardiola has been short of options for most of the campaign, with at least four players injured for each of the last 30 games and 86 per cent of the team's games all season. Oscar Bobb hasn't kicked a competitive ball since the Community Shield, Rodri is likely to miss nine months and many other first team players have been sidelined at various points.
Six stars missed the 5-1 mauling at Arsenal, with Ederson joining Bobb, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku on the injury list after the goalkeeper picked up a minor problem. However, Rodri was the only one missing from training this week to indicate that all but one of City's players are on the comeback trail.
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Guardiola will be asked about their fitness at his press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of their FA Cup fourth round clash, and has a decision to make. With Leyton Orient the last match before the first leg of their Champions League play-off with Real Madrid on Tuesday, the manager and his medical team must work out how many minutes each returning player can and should have at the Gaughan Group Stadium on Saturday to give them the best chance of being sharp for the next match.
City will also be able to call on all of their signings from the January window for Leyton Orient, although will have to leave one out of their Champions League squad. Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Nico Gonzalez and Omar Marmoush have all reinforced the squad at the Etihad in the last few weeks.
