Man City vs Cardiff: Benjamin Mendy must prove he is ready to start, says Pep Guardiola

Despite a lack of left-back options, Guardiola was non-committal on whether Mendy would come into the side

Pep Guardiola has said Benjamin Mendy must prove in training that he is ready to return as Manchester City’s starting left-back, despite his side suffering a spate of injuries in the position.

Guardiola lost Oleksandr Zinchenko to a suspected hamstring problem during City’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City, a result which saw the champions return to the top of the Premier League table.

Fabian Delph has previously deputised at left back under Guardiola but is another player currently on the treatment table, leaving Mendy and the right-footed Danilo as City’s last remaining options in the role.

Mendy, who missed the majority of last season with a cruciate knee injury, has made just one appearance for City since undergoing surgery on a separate knee problem in November.

And earlier this week, Guardiola said he is ‘not Mendy’s father’ when he was asked to respond to video footage of the left-back partying in a Manchester nightspot in the early hours of Saturday morning.

City now face an FA Cup semi-final against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, but Guardiola was non-committal when asked whether Mendy would come straight into the side.

“We’ll see tomorrow how he feels and how he trains,” the City manager said. “We don’t have many options.”

On Zinchenko’s injury, he added: “It doesn’t look good. Right now I don’t know, we wait until tomorrow.

“Zinchenko gave us a lot and he is an important player for us. He knows the mechanisms, he knows the way we want to play.

“During the season this kind of thing happens if you play a lot of minutes, you accept it and we are going to find a solution.

“I don’t know right now which one because Danilo fought a lot to play in that position. I appreciate that a lot.

“It’s not his natural position, but he fought a lot but it’s [not] his [natural] foot. It’s his right. We’ll see the decision we will take for the FA Cup semi final.”