Rúben Dias and John Stones are expected to return to action soon after missing Manchester City’s FA Cup quarterfinal win over Liverpool, assistant manager Pep Lijnders has said.
Dias has been out since being withdrawn at half-time during City’s 2-1 Champions League loss to Real Madrid on March 17, and the Portugal defender did not join up with his country during the recent international break.
Stones pulled out of international duty with England, having been an unused substitute in City’s Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal on March 22, and the 31-year-old will want to prove his fitness ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
His last appearance was in the 3-1 FA Cup win over Newcastle on March 7 when he clocked 90 minutes.
Lijnders said neither Dias nor Stones has a long-term injury problem.
“Ruben got a knock [on Friday] in the last minutes of training,” Lijnders said. “We are assessing it. I think he had a scan again (on Saturday) so we have to see.
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“John, to be honest, I think he will not be long-term but he was not available [on Saturday].”
City’s reward for Saturday’s convincing 4-0 win over Arne Slot’s Liverpool is a semifinal against Championship side Southampton.
