Man City suffer another injury blow as Pep Guardiola rules out Nathan Ake 'for a long time' after limping off in FA Cup clash against Plymouth

Dutch defender Ake started in his side's 3-1 win over Plymouth on Saturday but he did not return for the second half, with Ruben Dias replacing him. After the fifth-round FA Cup victory, manager Guardiola said they will "miss" Ake, while being grateful the club signed defenders Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov in January - else they would be short in their backline.

He told reporters: "Now again we have a central defender out for a long time, I think we'll miss Nathan. I'm so grateful to the club to bring [Abdukodir] Khusanov and Vitor [Reis] otherwise we have no chance to qualify for the Champions League next season or fight for the FA Cup. Impossible! We would just have [Ruben] Dias."

City are currently without centre-backs John Stones and Manuel Akanji due to injury, and talismanic midfielder Rodri has been sidelined for months with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. To lose Ake as well is a big blow in their bid to win the FA Cup and to qualify for next season's Champions League.

City will hope their new backline will be fit and firing when they travel to Nottingham Forest next Saturday in the Premier League.