Another injury blow for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City ahead of Brighton clash

Guardiola will aim to pick his side up against roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton following their first loss of the campaign to Liverpool last weekend.

John Stones is hoping to prove his fitness before champions Manchester City host Brighton in the Premier League.

The England defender has missed City’s last five games after suffering a hamstring injury on international duty last month.

Right-back Kyle Walker (abdominal) and midfielder Kalvin Phillips (shoulder) remain on the sidelines after recent operations.

Guardiola said: “We have to be ready. The past is the past, and already forgotten. Of course we take the lesson – on and off the pitch – but Brighton is our only concern.

“I learned from my career as a manager that if your focus is always on the past you will lose the focus on the present and the future, and this is the first step to drop points.

“Liverpool is history and Brighton is our dream.”

Brighton will check on centre-back Levi Colwill as head coach Roberto De Zerbi also looks to manage fatigue within the squad.

Colwill did not feature in the match squad for the goalless draw against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.

Winger Kaoru Mitoma is sidelined by an ankle problem, while midfielder Jakub Moder (ACL) is a long-term absentee.

Brighton are yet to record a win under their new boss De Zerbi but the Italian has seen signs of encouragement.

“It’s difficult to speak about four games, I have my vision, we take only two points. Lucky or unlucky, I don’t want to speak too much about this. if we want to speak about the quality of player in the game, I’m very happy.

“It’s difficult when a coach says they’re happy about their team’s performance when they didn’t win, but it’s like this."