Pep Guardiola is encouraged by Rodri returning to training with Manchester City after a long injury lay-off but does not want to rush him back.
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Spaniard back in trainingWas expected to miss entire seasonCould be back for final PL gamesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Rodri made his long-awaited return to training on Friday, more than five months after he tore his cruciate knee ligament against Arsenal. The Spaniard was initially ruled out for the rest of the campaign but the sight of him training got City fans hugely excited and lifted hopes of him returning to the pitch before the end of the campaign.
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Guardiola was at pains to insist that City needed to be careful about not hurrying Rodri back to action and risking a relapse of the injury. However, he admitted there was a good chance of him playing a part in City's final few Premier League games, or the latter stages of the FA Cup. City booked their place in the quarter-finals after seeing off Plymouth Argyle.
WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID
Guardiola told a press conference: "The fans must know they are not the only ones who are excited. It's been five months, six months. But one step at a time, we don't have to make stupid decisions to come back weeks earlier. It's good but still he's not close to coming back I'd say. But he's touching the ball today, in the locker room making touches with the players. He feels confident, he feels more happy. I could not expect [him to return] before the end of the season, not even the [Club] World Cup. But in the Premier League maybe it's going to happen."
DID YOU KNOW?
City have a rare seven-day break before their next Premier League match at Nottingham Forest after being knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid. Guardiola said he will give the players some time off and he is looking forward to then doing some proper work on the training ground.
He explained: "It's quite new for us, in eight, nine years it hasn't happened. We're going to give some days off, to refresh because we believe in this competition it's about quality not quantity. We're going to refresh things, do full training sessions to prepare our really important game against Forest. Then again we have one week before Brighton then international break then FA Cup. We're going to refresh things, practise things, lift the rhythm, refreshing things that we cannot do that we have to do better."
