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Nico O’Reilly has quickly become a key player for Manchester City, establishing himself as first choice at left-back.
The 21-year-old has added to his game with some crucial goals in recent weeks, too, scoring twice in the Carabao Cup final and again in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
City will have hoped O’Reilly might pop up again with an important contribution in Sunday’s potential Premier League title decider against Arsenal, but will the youngster be available for selection?
Nico O'Reilly availability for Manchester City assessed
Pep Guardiola was sweating on his fitness after he was forced off just after the hour mark against Chelsea and replaced by Rayan Ait-Nouri.
O’Reilly was holding his left hamstring, though it may well have been tightness rather than anything more serious.
Guardiola has provided an update on the defender’s injury status, indicating his withdrawal at Stamford Bridge might have been precautionary after all.
O’Reilly was said to have been in light training earlier this week, joining in with a recovery session on Monday.
"Nico is fine," Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.
If O’Reilly had been ruled out of the Arsenal clash, Ait-Nouri would have been an able deputy.
The 24-year-old has only started 10 Premier League games since joining City from Wolves last summer, but has proven quality and could feature is O'Reilly is not 90-minute ready.
Centre-back Ruben Dias will not return for the Arsenal game and has been sidelined for over a month now.
Guardiola’s side have struggled with defensive injuries this season, with both John Stones and Josko Gvardiol absent.
But it is testament to the depth of their squad that City will have players ready to fill in should O’Reilly and Dias not recover in time for Sunday’s seismic match.
