Ake out for 10-11 weeks as City youngsters Khusanov and Reis called to step up

Nathan Ake was substituted during City's FA Cup fifth-round victory over Plymouth at the Etihad Stadium last week due to a fracture to his left foot. The Netherlands international underwent surgery earlier this week, revealing that the issue had been aggravated after “bothering him for months”.

Guardiola said that the defender could be out for up to 11 weeks, as he spoke ahead of City’s trip to Nottingham Forest. “10-11 weeks they said to me,” the Catalan told reporters on Friday. “When you have surgery, it is because something wrong happened. It’s important that it is done. He has struggled.”

Ake will also be excluded from the Netherlands’ Nations League quarter-final tie against Spain later this month, having been named in the provisional squad last week. The 30-year-old has struggled with various fitness issues this term, which limited his appearances to just 18 across all competitions.

The Dutchman is another addition to Manchester City’s injury list in defense, with John Stones and Manuel Akanji not expected to make their returns until the end of April. As a result, winter signing Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis will be expected to step up to make up for the shortcomings in defence.

21-year-old Khusanov has already made four Premier League starts since joining from Lens, also making his debut in the Champions League and the FA Cup. On the other hand, 19-year-old Reis is yet to feature in the league and has, instead, been preferred to start in the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup.

Guardiola admitted he was pleased that the pair joined the team amid the injury crisis, as he said: "The impact of Khusanov was really good. Vitor was really good against Plymouth. We are unlucky (with injuries) but the club took the decision to sign in January, and if we hadn't, we would be in trouble."