Guardiola on injuries, 'incredible' De Zerbi and City's position
- Published
Manager Pep Guardiola has spoken to the media before Manchester City's trip to face Brighton in the Premier League on Thursday (20:00 BST kick-off).
Here are the main lines from his news conference:
On the injury situation: "Erling [Haaland] is not ready for tomorrow. It is not a big problem. The other two [Phil Foden and John Stones] are ready."
On whether facing Roberto de Zerbi's Brighton is easier this season: "Harder. My admiration for him is growing every season. They had a lot of problems and important players like Colwill, Caicedo, Mac Allister were sold. They have a lot of injuries and have played in three competitions, but the way they play is always there. He is doing an incredible job at Brighton."
On getting to a month from the end of the season still favourites for the title and in the FA Cup final: "At the start of the season I would have signed [for this]. Being in the latter stages means you can be there until the end - or in one week you can lose all titles. The team again behaved unbelievable this season. We won two titles [Super Cup and Club World Cup], we are in the final of the FA Cup, were in the latter stages of the Champions League and we are there in the Premier League."
On Nottingham Forest's reaction to VAR Stuart Attwell and the need to respect match officials: "I absolutely disagree [with Forest]. I never had doubts [about integrity]. They feel the pressure. We put pressure on them for the passion of the game, but when I sit here and reflect, they try to do their best and are under scrutiny with the cameras there. If they make a mistake, they feel bad - it's normal. The game is so difficult - it is fast and quick, decisions have to be made in one instant. It's not easy."