Man City face academy headache after Carabao Cup date confirmed

Manchester City face Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup third round and a date and time for the fixture has now been confirmed.

City take on Huddersfield in the third round of the Carabao Cup later this month

Manchester City's trip to Huddersfield for their Carabao Cup third round tie will be played on Wednesday, September 24, with a kick-off time of 7.45pm.

The Blues face a trip to the Accu Stadium after entering the competition at this stage, with the third-round ties split over two weeks. City are involved in the opening round of Champions League fixtures the week before and play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday 21, so a Wednesday trip to Yorkshire was always on the cards. Pep Guardiola's side will then play Burnley at home on Saturday in the Premier League.

The fixture comes just 24 hours after City Under-21s play their second group game in the EFL Trophy. Ben Wilkinson's side thrashed Oldham 5-1 to open the competition and now face Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Stadium on Tuesday, September 23 (7pm kick-off).

That could leave Guardiola and Wilkinson with a decision to make about the involvement of some youngsters. The Carabao Cup is often seen as a good introduction to first-team football for some of the club's academy players.

Last week, Reigan Heskey, Ryan McAidoo, and Divine Musaka were all withdrawn from the game with Oldham to join first-team training after a spate of injuries in the lead-up to the Premier League clash with Brighton.

City's injury woes are continuing to mount, and although Guardiola has a larger squad this season, he could turn to the academy to help fill some squad slots for the trip to Huddersfield.

Rayan Cherki is expected to be sidelined for two months with a thigh injury and Phil Foden missed the trip to the Amex as he wasn't considered fully fit. Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic and Savinho are also still on the treatment table.

Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly have pulled out of the England Under-21 squad since the weekend, while Rayan Ait-Nouri has also withdrawn from international duty with Algeria. Centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov picked up a calf injury against Brighton and will miss around two weeks of action

If those injury concerns continue, Guardiola might be forced to raid Wilkinson's squad, which could affect selections for the EFL Trophy game and give some youngsters the chance of first-team involvement at Huddersfield.

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