Pep Guardiola confirms four major Man City doubts for FA Cup final vs Manchester United

Pep Guardiola has confirmed his Manchester City side have several players who are injury doubts ahead of next Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester United.

Kevin De Bruyne played at Brighton on Wednesday but missed the trip to Brentford, while Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji all missed their second in succession.

Guardiola had hinted at ‘niggles’ among some players after the Premier League was secured, and speaking after City’s loss at the Gtech Stadium Guardiola said the quartet were ‘mentally drained’.

Asked if the players who missed out against Brentford would be fit to face United, City boss Guardiola said: “I don’t know right now. Hopefully.

“Ruben, Jack and Kevin couldn’t play. It is what it is. I think they will be ready but it’s hard to get ready in training. That’s why I had to see the players who played today.”

Pinnock’s 85th-minute strike made Brentford the only team to do the double over City this season, and only the fifth since Guardiola took over in 2016.

“I’m pretty sure we would have behaved a little bit different if we needed the points,” Guardiola said.

“I don’t have any complaints of how we behaved, I said to the players just now ‘you won the title, enjoy two days with your families and then we will prepare for the first final’.

“The guys who didn’t play who normally play were exhausted yesterday, mentally completely drained. They needed to rest to arrive with the right energy to face United.”