Pep Guardiola issues Erling Haaland injury update with hopeful date for Man City return

Erling Haaland missed Manchester City's win over Luton on Sunday after suffering a foot injury but Pep Guardiola has played down fears the striker could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines

Pep Guardiola reassured Manchester City fans that Erling Haaland's injury lay-off will not be long-term after a torrid ride at Kenilworth Road.

‌Haaland, who had started every previous Premier League game this season, sat out City's first win in five games with a foot injury, but Guardiola insisted: “It’s just stress bone. He was not ready for this game, I don’t think he will be ready for Crystal Palace.

‌“Please don't ask if his foot is broken. It's stress, just stress.‌ Hopefully he can be ready for (the Club World Cup in) Saudi Arabia. He almost couldn’t walk properly after the game at Villa.

‌“He said on the day before the game that he felt much, much better and he didn't have pain - that is why the doctor said we have to see week-by-week or day-by-day. We will see, maybe Crystal Palace, I don’t know.”

City dispensed with normal travel arrangements by flying down to Luton on the day of the game instead of their usual overnight stopover. But Guardiola enjoyed the day trippers' beat, saying: “I love it. I’d do it every day! I don't like to be in hotels, I prefer to sleep at home. It's perfect and I knew we’d compete good.

“We arrived and the players don't think. The meeting was exactly three minutes of set pieces, 45 seconds was my meeting. We came here with no space or time and of course the players ran.”

‌City trailed 1-0 at the break but goals from Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish in the space of two minutes broke Luton's resistance. Guardiola added: “I said to them, 'What are we going to do, feel sorry for ourselves? It's football, it's life. It has happened.'

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“If they score a second, are we going to complain again and say we were unlucky? We have to demand more of ourselves. The big teams, like this team is, have to find a way in those situations.

‌“I don't like to see the players when we won 18 games in a row 4-0. That doesn't define who we really are. We were four games without winning, 1-0 down in a tough stadium where they put three strikers with long balls at the end.

‌“It is not easy against that and we needed the goal from Bernardo to put the ball in the net. Jack in the first half had to shoot on his first touch and didn't. In the second half, he did it.”

‌Luton boss Rob Edwards, whose relegation battlers were stung in the dying seconds against Arsenal four days earlier, admitted: “The thing that keeps me up at night is the performance of the team more than results.

“If we keep performing like that we can achieve something really special this year. Maybe we are beginning to change the narrative about this club, but the bottom line is that we need points.”

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