Enzo Maresca has calmed fears over Erling Haaland’s injury after the Manchester City striker remained on the bench for the Champions League victory over AEK Athens. The Norway international was an unused substitute as City eased to a 5-1 win over the Greek outfit with Phil Foden scoring a hat-trick on Tuesday night. Haaland picked up a knock after scoring twice in the 3-2 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Maresca: Haaland ready for Saturday
City take on Aston Villa as they return to Premier League action on Saturday with Maresca revealing his striker will be available, seeing little need to introduce him midweek. Speaking after Tuesday’s game, Maresca said: ‘He’s okay to start on Saturday. ‘We had five or six players on the bench who were ready to go inside but at the same time they had a rest, which is good! So we’re happy with that.’
Gvardiol and Semenyo updates
Maresca also provided an update on Josko Gvardiol after the Croatian came off in the 72nd minute. ‘He’s okay, he had a small problem during the warm-up in his back but he could play and he was okay.’ City will however be without Antoine Semenyo for eight weeks after he suffered a knee injury against Ipswich. ‘The rest are more or less okay. The only one that will be out for probably eight weeks is Antoine,’ Maresca said earlier this week.
Maresca added: ‘In the first moment we expected an even worse injury so we were more worried. ‘After yesterday’s scan we feel much better because it’s not so big like we expected. ‘It could be eight weeks. Now in this moment the most important thing for him is his recovery. When he is back around December it will be like a new player in terms of energy.’
