Pep Guardiola provides major injury and fitness updates on Ruben Dias, Oscar Bobb, Erling Haaland, Ederson, and John Stones | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered a number of major fitness and injury updates concerning five stars in his first-team squad this week.

The Premier League champions take a break from their relentless English top-flight schedule this weekend as they welcome back the illustrious FA Cup to their agenda with a third round meeting against League Two outfit Salford City.

Karl Robinson’s squad visit the Etihad Stadium in a much stronger vein of form than their competitors this weekend having recorded wins in all of their last six matches and firmly chasing promotion into League One this season.

And it goes without saying that Manchester City also have an array of problems to continue to handle when they take on the Football League side, with injuries and fitness problems having hampered Pep Guardiola’s options throughout the season so far.

Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of Manchester City’s FA Cup third round tie against Salford City this weekend, manager Guardiola was able to provide some hugely positive updates on recently sidelined stars.

First up was an update on mainstay centre-back option Ruben Dias, who remains ruled out against the League Two side but “feels better” in light of photos uploaded by the Portuguese defender on social media showcasing his return to on-the-ball training ground work.

Oscar Bobb has also returned to first-team training after five months on the sidelines recovering from surgery on a leg bone fracture sustained in August 2024, Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday afternoon.

The City head coach said, “He’s training already with the team, partial. It’s good news for us… I don’t know [when he will be back], but it’s not muscular. It was a bone, a fracture, and one that is already fixed so it’s fine. Now it’s physical condition, but it’s good news that he’s back.”

There has also been question marks around whether the opening round for Manchester City in the FA Cup could present a rare opportunity for Erling Haaland to take on some much-needed rest having been depended upon relentlessly during the first-half of the season.

Guardiola remained tight-lipped however, as he said, “You will see tomorrow! He feels good, he had some niggles on the first day but we had seven days from West Ham to Salford and recover well, and the situation that we have we need everyone ready to go through.”

Elsewhere, number one choice goalkeeper Ederson is now “fine” after recovering from his own minor leg injury, while centre-back John Stones remains unavailable against Salford City this weekend as he looks to recover from his latest setback.

The meeting with Salford City this weekend marks the start of a hugely important period in Manchester City’s season, with mammoth clashes across the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.

In Europe’s premier club competition, City’s stars will know that they simple have to record wins or points at a bare minimum in order to keep their hopes of a last-16 play-off place alive having endured disappointing results against Sporting CP, Feyenoord, and Juventus.

As for the English top-flight, challenges await with consecutive away visits to both Brentford and Ipswich Town in back-to-back outings, while Chelsea also visit the Etihad Stadium towards the end of the month.