Man City get major injury boost for Napoli and Arsenal matches

Manchester City welcomed John Stones back to training ahead of two big games this week following his recent injury

John Stones

John Stones took part in Manchester City training on Wednesday to boost the team ahead of their matches with Napoli and Arsenal.

The England defender has struggled with injuries for much of the last two seasons, and went six months without featuring in the team earlier this year. He returned in August to start the first three Premier League matches, only to pull out of the England squad with some minor discomfort.

“I’m a big fan of John, his personality and his quality,” England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel said earlier this month. “He could be an important figure, of course, but he needs to be available.

"He wants to be available and he’s a top professional, so he is the most upset in all this because he does really everything to be fit and struggles then with these minor issues from time to time that cost him game time."

That setback was enough to rule Stones out of the Manchester derby as well, with the centre-back not in the squad for the 3-0 win over United at the weekend. However, his presence in training will fuel hopes that he could be back in the team for the Arsenal game on Sunday if not Napoli on Thursday.

Also in the group was Kalvin Phillips, who was surprisingly named in the Premier League squad this month after failing to find a club in the summer transfer window. Phillips spent last season on loan at Ipswich but had Achilles surgery over the summer that deprived him of a pre-season.

Phillips was not named in the Champions League squad so is unable to feature against Napoli, but could be available for selection for Premier League games starting with Arsenal on Sunday.

Three academy players were involved in first team training as well in the 25-man group who were involved in the Manchester sunshine on Wednesday afternoon. Divine Mukasa and Stephen Mfuni trained after their selection in the squad for the Manchester derby, as well as winger Reigan Heskey.

There were no other injury concerns for Guardiola, although Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Mateo Kovacic remain out. The manager said on Wednesday that Kovacic will return soon.

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