Friday 16 December 2016 17:18, UK
Pep Guardiola admits he feels sad for midfielder Ilkay Gundogan after Manchester City confirmed he has torn his cruciate knee ligament.
The German international sustained the injury in Wednesday night's 2-0 victory over Watford.
City welcome Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and will also be without Fernandinho, who is serving a three-match ban for his red card against Chelsea.
Guardiola admits Gundogan's injury is a big setback for City but is holding out hope he will be able to return before the end of the season.
The City manager said: "He will be out for a long period of time. We are sad for him and we are going to miss him. He's unlucky.
"We won't have Ilkay and Fernandinho, we have to adapt. Try to do as well as possible.
"We are all sad, he is sad. Now he must feel that we are there [for him]. He'll be operated on and we want him back as soon as possible.
"During the season this can happen. We are going to miss him but now we just support him. He will recover."
Gundogan's injury opens the door for Yaya Toure to cement a starting place in City's starting line-up.
That prospect seemed unlikely when the Ivorian was frozen out after clashing with Guardiola earlier in the season but the Spaniard says he has been happy with Toure's attitude since reintroducing him to the squad.
"You know the reason why [Toure] was out in the first part. Now he is playing like he can be, like I met him at Barcelona," Guardiola said.
"He's a player with quality. We have other options too.
"When his physical condition is right, he can do everything. When he came back, the three games he played we won with him.
"We decided to stay with Yaya. Since he came back he has helped us a lot. The moment he came back he was part of the team."
