Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Erling Haaland is "on the verge" of returning from injury, but Friday's FA Cup fourth-round tie with Tottenham Hotspur will come too soon for the striker.
Haaland has been sidelined since early December and has missed each of City's last nine games in all competitions with a "bone stress reaction" in his foot.
The 23-year-old returned to first-team training during the Citizens' warm-weather trip to Abu Dhabi last week, but he still needs more time to make a full recovery.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday's ahead of Friday's trip to North London, Guardiola said: "He's on the verge of coming back. Tomorrow, still he is not ready but he is close.
"Some training sessions he has trained in the last two days. It's not perfect so we wait a little bit more."
© Reuters
Guardiola has also revealed that Manuel Akanji is ruled out as he continues to recover from a knee injury, but John Stones and Ederson are back in contention after shaking off respective ankle and knee issues.
"Akanji is out and John has come back," the Catalan boss added. "He will be [in contention for] team selection but he is back with us. [Ederson] is okay now."
FA Cup holders Man City have already been boosted by the return of star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, who both featured in the club's 5-0 home victory over Huddersfield Town in the third round on January 7.
The Belgian duo also played in City's 3-2 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League just under two weeks ago, with Doku starting and playing for 82 minutes, while De Bruyne scored and registered an assist during an inspired 21-minute cameo display as a substitute.
De Bruyne and Doku will be in contention to feature against Tottenham on Friday, although the former is unlikely to start as he continues to gradually build up his match fitness after five months out with a torn hamstring.
Meanwhile, Jack Grealish was an unused substitute against Newcastle after recovering from illness to make the matchday squad, and he is also fit to make an appearance against Spurs.
© Reuters
Man City head into Sunday's contest having won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions as well as each of their last 21 FA Cup games not played at Wembley Stadium, but success in not a given against Spurs as the Citizens have lost all of their previous five visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without scoring a goal from a total of 84 shots.
Guardiola has called for Man City to convert their chances on Friday and end their barren away run against Spurs as they endeavour to progress to the fifth round and retain their FA Cup crown.
"That's the reality. How tough it is for us," said Guardiola. "In the knockout stage to go through you have to score goals otherwise it's impossible. This is an opportunity to break it.
"The feeling is most of the times we were, exceptional is not the right word because we could not win but we played really good. The way we behaved and the way we played was good.
"The reality is that no goals and defeats. They are much better than us."
Man City and Tottenham played out an enthralling 3-3 draw at the Etihad Stadium in their last meeting in the Premier League in December, with Dejan Kulusevski netting a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to help Ange Postecoglou's men snatch a point.
Oliver Thomas
