Jack Grealish faces a race against time to be involved against Crystal Palace when Manchester City welcome the Eagles to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The England international was missing from City's matchday squad last week against Newcastle after picking up a knock in his side's 4-0 triumph over Bournemouth.
Pep Guardiola's men began their title defence with consecutive wins over West Ham and Bournemouth, with Erling Haaland making a flying start to his debut Premier League campaign.
Advert
The Blues, who retained the league title after a dramatic finale against Aston Villa on the last day of the previous campaign, added Sergio Gomez to their ranks after Oleksandr Zinchenko left for Arsenal this summer.
However, City did not recruit at centre-back and have begun the campaign with Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nathan Ake competing at the heart of defence.
Stones spent the opening weeks of the season on the sidelines but made his first appearance of the campaign in Manchester City's 3-3 draw with Newcastle at St. James' Park.
Advert
Laporte played through an injury he sustained in City's 5-1 triumph over Wolves till the final day of last season and helped his side retain their league title.
The Spaniard has since taken time off to recover from a knee issue and could see a return to action next month.
Speaking ahead of a visit from Crystal Palace on Saturday, Guardiola said: "In late September or October, Aymeric (Laporte) will be back."
Advert
Guardiola further provided an update on Nathan Ake, who was forced off against Newcastle in the first half and saw Ruben Dias take his place alongside John Stones.
"Nathan (Ake) is coming back soon, yesterday he started running and feels good," the Catalan said as he ruled out the Dutchman from Saturday's tie.
With City looking worryingly short of cover at centre-back ahead of a packed schedule of games, Guardiola was quizzed on whether he thinks the club should have brought in a new defender in the transfer window.
Advert
He said: "I am happy with that (the current options). But then maybe we wake up in the morning and think, 'Oh maybe we should have bought a central defender!'"
As for Jack Grealish, who put in a series of encouraging displays in pre-season and in City's opening day win at the London Stadium, Guardiola indicated the Crystal Palace game is likely to come too soon for the 26-year-old.
The Manchester City manager added: "As for Jack (Grealish), he trained alone. He feels better, but until we train, I can’t tell you - but my feeling is he won't be ready for tomorrow."
Advert
City will be looking to return to winning ways against Palace after back-to-back draws against Newcastle and Barcelona in the past week.
Topics: Manchester City, Premier League, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Pep Guardiola, Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Barcelona
Vayam Lahoti