Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered a fresh update on the fitness of his squad ahead of Saturday lunchtime's FA Cup fourth-round tie with Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road.
The Citizens were without six players for last weekend's heavy 5-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League, including long-term absentee Rodri (ACL), although he has been included in the club's Champions League squad for the knockout rounds.
Goalkeeper Ederson was a surprise omission from the matchday squad against the Gunners, but it was confirmed by Guardiola prior to kickoff that he had been nursing a 'minor injury'.
Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku have all been sidelined since the middle of last month, but all three players have now returned to training along with Ederson ahead of this weekend's cup tie.
Meanwhile, Oscar Bobb has gradually been building up his fitness in training over the last few weeks and is closing in on a return, six months after sustaining a leg fracture.
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Dias, Ake, Doku, Ederson could return against Leyton Orient
Asked at a press conference on Friday if any players who have returned to training this week could be involved against Leyton Orient, Guardiola simply replied: "Maybe some of them. We will see.
"We trained yesterday and today. We gave two days off (after Arsenal defeat) because we have a lot of games, we had and we will have, and I prefer this instead of training that the people go to see their families, rest a little bit, and it was fine."
Guardiola has insisted that Leyton Orient "deserve" his attention, even though he admittedly has one eye on next Tuesday's important Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
"Tomorrow after the game we will come back early to Manchester, and after we have time to start to talk [about Real Madrid]," said Guardiola. "Of course I have an eye on Madrid, but Leyton Orient deserve my attention.
"Always it has been like that (thinking about one game at a time). Otherwise we would not get the amount of semi-finals and finals of the FA Cup that we had in the last five, six years. That's why I'm concerned and focussed on Leyton Orient."
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Guardiola reacts to "really important" Gonzalez signing
Guardiola is expected to rotate his side in a number of positions on Saturday and one name who could be handed his debut is midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who has trained with his new teammates since completing his £50m deadline day transfer from Porto.
Reacting to the addition of the Spaniard, Guardiola said: "Really important! It's a position that we were weak since the absence from Rodri.
"He's a young player, 23-years-old, can play number six and number eight, more in the pockets. Physicality, he's a strong young boy. I know him from the Barcelona academy and his father was working here. I'm really pleased from the effort of the club to bring him here for the next years."
Gonzalez is one of two players who could make his debut for Man City this weekend along with 19-year-old defender Vitor Reis, who is yet to play for the Citizens since joining from Palmeiras last month.
Fellow new recruits Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush have already represented Man City in the Premier League this season and are also in contention to play for the first time in the FA Cup against a Leyton Orient side who sit sixth in League One and are vying for promotion.
Seven-time FA Cup winners Man City have already beaten lower-league opposition in this season's competition, thrashing fourth-tier side Salford City 8-0 in the third round last month.
Oliver Thomas
