Pep Guardiola expects Kevin De Bruyne to travel to Bournemouth for Manchester City’s Premier League game this weekend.
City head to the south coast looking to cut Liverpool’s lead atop the table, having edged Brentford last time out.
De Bruyne, 32, was absent from the squad in midweek after experiencing discomfort with the hamstring which required operations after the end of last season and a subsequent injury at the start of this campaign.
Guardiola was tight-lipped on what role De Bruyne might have at Bournemouth, having seen his gametime split between the starting line-up and bench since his return.
But the City boss admitted he was “pretty sure” that his star playmaker will travel after taking part in training following the Brentford win.
“[De Bruyne is] good, he’s not injured,” he told reporters.
“I don’t know if [he’s] 100 per cent, I think we took a good decision to not take the risk.
“I know people will ask why he didn’t play but we took a decision because he didn’t feel comfortable.”
City are set to be without Jack Grealish and Josko Gvardiol at Bournemouth but Guardiola insisted they are “closer” to a return after a positive week of recovery.
Bournemouth have never beaten the treble-winners in 20 meetings between the clubs over the years, yet the Spaniard expects a tough match at the Vitality Stadium despite the Cherries going winless in their last six games.
“It's always a difficult game for the way they play,” said Guardiola. “It will be completely different to when we played here [and won 6-1]. They are aggressive, well organised. They're a good team.”
