Pep rules out including academy players against Porto

Manchester City manager has ruled out including academy players in his squad for the match against Porto.

Speaking in the pre match conference, he said: “No. We have 19 players in the first team fit and all of them travel. They are a real difficult opponent and we need the best players possible.”

Manchester City have a nearly full squad for the first time this season. Only Sergio Aguero and Nathan Ake are expected to miss out for the trip to Portugal.

City have turned to the academy to fill their squad for the past few fixtures. Promising youngsters such as Liam Delap, Cole Palmer, Felix Nmecha and Tommy Doyle have been a constant presence in City’s team sheets this season.

In their last Champions league game against Olympiacos, Tommy Doyle was given a run in when he replaced Ilkay Gundogan in the 86th minute.

Liam Delap scored on his City debut against Bournemouth in the League Cup.

Pep Guardiola has made it clear that he will not rest his players in any fixtures when there is not an injury concern. All of the matches from now one will be a challenge for his players to maintain their place in his squad.

Manchester City will face Porto in a match which will be effectively dead rubber for them. City have already qualified for the knockout stages. They can expect a tough challenge from Porto, who would be wanting to seal their own qualification to the next round.