Haaland on Man City bench against Wolves after early return from injury

Pep Guardiola had said on Thursday that Erling Haaland was not ready to return to action despite stepping up his recovery from an ankle injury he suffered against Bournemouth in March.

The Norway striker resumed full training this week, but Guardiola had said only that he would play in the "next games", rather than the Wolves match specifically. Haaland had missed City's last six games since sustaining the injury during the FA Cup quarter-final win at the Vitality Stadium.

With 30 goals in all competitions this season, Haaland's presence is a huge boost for City as they look to salvage a dismal season by qualifying for the Champions League via a top-five finish in the Premier League.

Haaland will also be in contention to feature in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace at Wembley on May 17. "He's getting better. The injury was for six weeks, and now he's between weeks four and five," Guardiola had said on Thursday.

"The injury is not easy. Syndesmosis (problems) are tricky, tricky injuries, but he's making partial training, and on Wednesday, he was almost fully training. "So, he's getting better. Hopefully, in the next games he can be there."

Man City vs Wolves lineups:

Man City's starting XI: Ederson (GK), Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O'Reilly, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Doku, Marmoush.

Wolves' starting XI: Sa (GK); Doherty, Agbadou, T. Gomes; Semedo, J. Gomes, Andre, Ait-Nouri; Munetsi, Bellegarde; Cunha.