Pep Guardiola delivers Erling Haaland concern and Nico Gonzalez update for Man City - 'Exhausted'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the injury situation ahead of the derby with Manchester United

Pep Guardiola wants Omar Marmoush back soon to give the 'exhausted' Erling Haaland a rest as he waits on injury news for Nico Gonzalez ahead of the Manchester derby. City head to Old Trafford on Saturday and the Manchester City boss was unable to say after Tuesday's game whether the midfielder will be able to feature.

"He's injured. He didn't recover well, he made an effort but it's a step back," the manager said before the game. In his absence, Nico O'Reilly started in defensive midfield and he was replaced by Rodri for the final 40 minutes.

Haaland played the full match that included nearly 10 minutes of injury time, and will also likely line up against Manchester United on Saturday. However, he was not at his best in the 2-0 win over Newcastle and has not scored in open play since the West Ham match before Christmas.

Guardiola brought up that the 25-year-old is shattered - he played the first half of the FA Cup win over Exeter on Saturday - and expressed his wish for Marmoush to come back from the Africa Cup of Nations soon. The Egyptian has reached the semi-finals with his national team and they take on Senegal on Wednesday and will then play in either Saturday's third-place play-off or Sunday's final.

"They asked me at Sunderland and Chelsea and Brighton and I said the team is there and the spirit is there. It has always been there apart from last season," said Guardiola. "But we play an extraordinary team in the Premier League, we have to make an incredible second leg in the Premier League to be there until the end.

"Win and win and win and win. I know the situation they have with defenders it won't be easy. Hopefully Omar will be back soon to give rest to Erling because Erling is exhausted but how you overcome things as a team is the point.

"We missed chances in the six-yard box at Sunderland. Today Cherki was there. Sometimes I want to kick the ball. The vibe in the team from the beginning has been there."