Two key players for Manchester City are continuing to work their way back to full fitness

Manchester City take on Al Ain in their second Group G fixture of the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday morning (UK time). A win for Pep Guardiola’s side will ensure their qualification to the round of 16 phase of the competition. But while Manchester City’s goal is to win the Club World Cup, the tournament does represent the opportunity for several of Manchester City’s key players to work their way back to full fitness. Two players in that particular boat are John Stones and Rodri. The pair are working their way back to full fitness after lengthy injury layoffs.

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s second match of the Club World Cup, Pep Guardiola has told the media that Stones and Rodri aren’t yet ready to play from the start for Manchester City. But the pair could come off the bench against Al Ain as they work their way back to full fitness.

Speaking during his pre-game press conference ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Al Ain, Pep Guardiola provided an update on the fitness of Rodri and John Stones. He informed the media that neither player is ready to play from the start just yet. Speaking on Rodri and his progress, Pep Guardiola told the media: “He’s getting better. We can’t forget, it’s almost nine months since the sad day what happened. It’s an injury between 10 and 12 months. It’s a long injury.”

“He’s getting better, and if he can play 20 to 30 minutes, it’ll be good. I know he wants to be there, but we need to protect him and make him feel good in his knee.”

“The minutes he played last game help and hopefully tomorrow too. Hopefully, one day soon, he can play from the beginning.”

John Stones is slowly working his way back.

Pep Guardiola also informed the media that John Stones is slowly working his way back. The England international has been training with the City first team which is good news. Speaking on Stones, Guardiola said: “I see him suffer when he can’t be involved, it’s so sad but important now is at training sessions, he feels better and then the game is another issue.”

“It’s another rhythm and demanding but as much as he arrived a few days in Manchester and now here he trained almost all the sessions with us and feels good.”

“This is what we want of him.”

Rodri and John Stones need time to get back to their best which is where the Club World Cup comes in handy.

As we saw with Rodri’s performance against Wydad AC, he needs minutes and time to rediscover his touch and match sharpness. That is no surprise after such a long injury layoff for the Spanish international. John Stones is in the same boat. Both players need time, and minutes to get back to their best. That’s where the FIFA Club World Cup comes in handy for the pair.

Both players can gradually work their way back to full fitness and sharpness. Manchester City’s group games in the United States are the ideal setting to get minutes into their legs. Rodri has begun that process against Wydad. He’ll be looking to get more minutes against Al Ain. John Stones is yet to play at the tournament but hopefully he can get on the pitch against Al Ain in Atlanta.

Rodri and John Stones are slowly working their way back from a long way back in terms of their fitness. But they are both training consistently and that is a major positive for the pair. The more they train, the closer they are to getting on the pitch. Rodri has begun that process and Stones isn’t far behind him. Whether or not either player features against Al Ain is now another feature to look out for in Manchester City’s second match of the FIFA Club World Cup.

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