Guardiola won’t rush Rodri return for Man City | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has insisted Manchester City will not rush Rodri’s return from injury despite the midfielder’s return to the training pitch.

Rodri has been out of action since sustaining an ACL injury against Arsenal in September. The Ballon d’Or winner’s absence has been a major factor in City’s struggles this season, with the Premier League champions currently fifth in the table.

The FA Cup offers a last chance of silverware for Guardiola’s side this season. City travel to face Bournemouth in the quarter-finals, but Guardiola insists he will not be tempted to rush Rodri back into action.

“Listen, it would be nice if he could play tomorrow but the wrong decision right now,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference.

“He is behaving on the pitch really well but competition is different. We have to be sure he is fine before he is involved.”

City are aiming to reach a third consecutive FA Cup final this season and seventh straight semi-final. The Citizens are incredibly the only ‘Big Six’ team left in the competition at the quarter-final stage. Four of the remaining sides have never won the FA Cup and Guardiola said it proves the strength in depth of English football.

“We see every week in the Premier League and can prove it again in the FA Cup. I remember at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, in England the biggest thing is every team can beat every team.

“I’ve seen teams like Liverpool who have done amazing in the Premier League but the rest of the teams, everything can happen.

“We take the FA Cup seriously like the Carabao Cup in the past when we won it four times in a row.”

Read – Five talking points ahead of the FA Cup quarter-finals

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