Stones was replaced at half-time of City&aposs win over Young Boys this week, picking up a recurrence of the muscle injury that kept him out of the first ten games of the season. On Tuesday, Guardiola said City were &aposin trouble&apos and he would be out for &aposa while&apos.
The centre-back was left out of the England squad this week for the upcoming internationals, but after consulting doctors, Guardiola confirmed on Friday that the initial diagnosis is not as bad as he first thought.
However, Guardiola confirmed Stones will miss three weeks of action at least. He said: “He&aposs injured. He&aposs not ready for Chelsea. We&aposll see after the international break.”
Guardiola added that he couldn&apost confirm whether Stones would be ready to face Liverpool later this month after the international break, but did add that: “The doctor said to me it&aposs not as bad. I don&apost know. I don&apost want to create tempo [timeframe]. When he&aposs fit again he&aposll come back.”
Guardiola also confirmed that defender Manuel Akanji, who withdrew from Tuesday&aposs starting line up with a back injury, has trained this week and is available to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
