Pep Guardiola is hopeful of having Nico Gonzalez available for selection in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off first-leg against Real Madrid.
Gonzalez, who arrived from Porto on transfer deadline day, made his Man City debut against Leyton Orient at the weekend.
However, the midfielder was forced off after just 22 minutes having been brought down seconds before Orient went ahead as City had to come from behind to avoid a huge FA Cup upset.
Guardiola said afterwards that the Gonzalez “could not continue”, though he was reportedly spotted among the rest of the City substitutes after receiving treatment.
When asked for a further update on the Spaniard’s availability vs Real Madrid, the Man City boss revealed: “I hope so. The kick was strong in this area. We have a few days, we will see.”
Gonzalez is eligible for the play-off tie as he along with fellow January signings Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush have been added to Man City's updated Champions League squad.
Vitor Reis is ineligible however, but Guardiola hopes defensive John Stones and Ruben Dias are over the injury issues that have disrupted their seasons.
“Two years ago in the year of the Treble, [Stones] helped us in many different ways,” Guardiola added.
“For the last three months he hasn’t played 90 minutes and the last two games he played without pain. That’s really good because his presence is important.
“Ruben again is back, he played 45 minutes. We will see how many players we can recover for the next games.”
