Man City manager Pep Guardiola responds to Kalvin Phillips injury setback

19.09.2022 - 00:59 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Pep Guardiola is confident Kalvin Phillips can still make England's World Cup squad despite the prospect of needing to undergo surgery on a shoulder injury.

Manchester City have been told that going under the knife is the best option to solve Phillips' shoulder issues. He suffered two significant shoulder injuries while with Leeds and aggravated the problem during the Blues' pre-season friendly in Barcelona last month.

Phillips is out of England's squad for next week's Nations League games against Italy and Germany and if he has surgery he will face a race against time to be fit for the World Cup in Qatar in November and December.

READ MORE: City dealt new Phillips injury blow

The midfielder has played just 14 minutes of competitive football since joining City from Leeds for £42million and Guardiola's side have just five more games scheduled before Gareth Southgate has to name his 26-man England squad on Friday, October 21.

Phillips was an integral part of the England team that reached last summer's European Championship final and was named England's player of the year in 2021, but his hopes of appearing in a first World Cup are now hanging by a thread, although Guardiola insists he could still return in time, with the Three Lions first game in the tournament not until November 21.

"I don’t know [how long he will be out for], I am not a doctor but in a good way he can arrive of course the World Cup," said Guardiola.

"I think so but I am not a doctor. The doctor says the only solution right now is to do what we have to do."

Phillips has had a frustrating start to life at the Etihad and his fitness issues mean Rodri has had to start all 10 of City's games so far this season, missing just 57 minutes across those fixtures.

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