'Will not play' Pep Guardiola fires warning to Man City stars after injury boost

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about how his returning players have act if they are to earn a spot in the team

Pep Guardiola wants no excuses from his Manchester City players as he looks for every member of his squad to be pushing for a regular starting place.

Omar Marmoush, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki are all set to return for the Blues to ease their injury concerns and give the manager more options for his matchdays. However, all three find the team in a much better state than when they were sidelined.

After a difficult opening that included two defeats from their first three games, City have found their feet in all competitions and are on a seven-match unbeaten streak where the only two draws were both down to goals conceded in the dying minutes.

A number of players have found their form, with Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Nico O'Reilly all making convincing claims to keep their starting places when the injured players return.

Guardiola sought to protect his squad last season when injuries bit and competition died off, refusing to criticise them in press conferences. However, the improvements seen so far since the summer have been enough for the manager to publicly warn that fighting for a place in the team will be the bedrock of whether the team is successful or not.

"When they are fit they have to compete. Jeremy was unbelievable this season and didn't play against Brentford," he said.

"At the end, they have to compete and they have to decide between them and their excuses. They have to choose, do they do better or do they put an excuse in? Everyone can have their own problems and we all have families and our focuses but the one target as a team is to win games.

"If you score three goals every game don't worry because you will play every single week. If you are the best defender, you will play. But if you have excuses you cannot improve.

"One of the reasons why we had success in this club is we never had excuses. It's good that they have to compete with each other and when the ones in the stands see Jeremy and Nico and all of them playing good, they are not stupid - they know that this is the standard and the level and that they have to play good or they will not play."

Guardiola has seen a marked shift from last season but has higher standards still, wanting the quality of his bench to be pushing the first team as they were when they won the Treble in 2023. A good record with injuries helped then, but so did being able to call on Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez, Foden and others; the latter three all combined to get the fourth goal in the Champions League semi-final rout of Real Madrid.

Foden has gone on to become a big part of City's plans but plenty have left in search of more regular football. Guardiola accepts this will inevitably happen with some players but needs them all to be giving everything they have got for the whole season to help the team achieve its goal.

"The Year of the Treble do you know the players I had on the bench? Ayme Laporte, Julian and the other ones. I would love to have them but they wanted to play so they left.

"Julian had to compete with Erling and when that happened it was top and that's why he's now at one of the best teams in the world in Atletico and playing with a top class manager and players and performing unbelievably.

"I would love to have him but I understand why it happened for many players. They have to be fit and the minutes that they all have they have to use them the best for them and for the team."

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