What Pep Guardiola and Man City will do with free midweek as Blues seek advantage - 'it's important'

Manchester City have earned a midweek game off after making the Champions League last-16 and Pep Guardiola will let them holiday

Manchester City players will get the best part of four days off to try and freshen them up to go all out for four trophies. Pep Guardiola will give his squad leave immediately after their FA Cup game at home to Salford on Saturday and they will not be asked back until Wednesday afternoon.

The only midweek City have not had a game, excluding international breaks, since August was around Christmas and their small squad has been stretched to its limit with injuries in recent months. The signings of Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi in the winter transfer window were crucial in helping City to progress to the Carabao Cup final and stay close to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

Victory over Galatasaray last month in the Champions League, couple with a shock defeat for Real Madrid, means City avoid a play-off over the next two weeks that would further challenge them - Newcastle, their opponents in the Premier League next Saturday, are playing away to Qarabag in the days before after failing to make the top eight in the competition. Guardiola wants to use some of that time on the training pitch to improve City but he is happy to give his squad a break first.

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"It's important to be fresh in your mind. I learned In this country, when you can give them a day off, they get a day off. The schedule is so tight. And that's why people can travel with their families, different environment, just change a little bit, they come back after three days, prepare a Newcastle game and after Leeds," he said.

"I think it will be good for us. That doesn't mean where we go we play [it is now a] disaster, and maybe we will lose the vibe that we have right now, maybe - I don't know. But I think everybody needs it. Staff, backroom staff, everyone, cleaning the minds. It has been so, so demanding, always it is, especially with a lot of injuries that we had in November and December.

"So it's really important to have this. That's why I was so happy to qualify for the Champions League, the first date. That's the main target, but especially to have this last two weeks, where we can breathe a little bit and don't see each other. We are tired of seeing each other."

City have already made the Carabao Cup final and will make the fifth round of the FA Cup if they beat League Two side Salford City on Saturday. Having reduced the gap to the top of the Premier League to four points this week and booked their place in the Champions League knockouts, there is a lot to play for in the final months.

Guardiola could welcome John Stones back against Salford and is already looking forward to Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Mateo Kovacic coming back as well to lift the squad. As much rest as the players can enjoy from their time off next week, the extra competition that players can bring after injury will also boost City's chances of success.

"From my experience of a decade here, November, December, January, February is so tough in the Premier League. It's so tough," he said. "When you arrive in March and are in competitions, the sky is more blue. In that moment, it depends how many players you have available. Even with that, you can have all the squad more or less, and even being fit you can be out in the knockout stage but you can compete.

"It's all I asked for last season and this season. I was desperate to have my team back. Jeremy come back and Savio come back and John came back and Kova has already started to be on the pitch training, when everything can happen after that every three or four days in March after six or seven months of playing you need freshness in the legs and after you can compete better."

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