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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about his team selection thoughts for their Carabao Cup semi-final with Newcastle
Manchester City will assess Rayan Ait-Nouri in training following his return from the Africa Cup of Nations before deciding if he can travel to Newcastle. The Algerian travelled back after his side were knocked out of the tournament, although a cancelled flight connection delayed his arrival in Manchester.
Otherwise, Pep Guardiola is sweating on a few players who have 'niggles' as he looks to prepare his team for the Carabao Cup semi-final. The first leg is at St James Park on Tuesday, with the second leg at the Etihad not for another three weeks due to the schedule.
Ait-Nouri will help City in a month where they have a number of injury concerns to deal with. Guardiola suggested that the left-back could come straight back into the squad for the Newcastle game, but will decide after training on Monday.
"We will see," he said. "We have some players with niggles and we will see how they feel this afternoon. Rayan Ait-Nouri has come back from AFCON but unfortunately lost the connection so arrived a little bit late. We will see in the training sessions how he feels and don't want to take risks of players getting injured again
New signing Antoine Semenyo could also feature after starting in the 10-1 thrashing of Exeter at the weekend, notching a goal and an assist before being brought off after an hour. A change to the Carabao Cup rules means that he can play against Newcastle despite having already represented Bournemouth this season.
"The impression is what he has done in Bournemouth for many years," said Guardiola. "He's a really nice guy and in a few actions he showed what he showed at Bournemouth and hopefully he can continue to do here."
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