Pep Guardiola delivers fitness update on three Manchester City defenders

Pep Guardiola has confirmed that defender John Stones is available to face Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League Group G contest on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old missed the 4-0 win away against Sevilla last week due to a minor muscle problem, but he has since returned to first-team training and will be in contention to face BVB at the Etihad Stadium.

Aymeric Laporte was also spotted in training and completed his first session with his teammates after undergoing knee surgery over the summer.

The Frenchman is unlikely to feature in Wednesday’s matchday squad, however, while Kyle Walker is ruled out as he continues to recover from a muscle injury.

The England right-back came off in the final 10 minutes of City’s Premier League draw at Aston Villa and subsequently missed the victory over Sevilla.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Guardiola provided an update on all three defenders, telling reporters: “John [Stones] is training, Kyle [Walker] doesn’t. John is fit and good.”

“It is the first training session [for Laporte] and I don’t know, but this is good. It is going really well and we are very happy for that. After the international break he will be ready for us to think about using him.”

When asked whether Laporte could be named on the substitutes’ bench on Wednesday, Guardiola added: “I don’t think so, but we will see. Training session yesterday was partial, today complete.

“I spoke with the doctor, he needs a little more volume on his leg but in general he’s going well.”

The rest of Guardiola’s squad is fit and available for selection on Wednesday, including former Borussia Dortmund trio Ilkay Gundogan, Erling Braut Haaland and Manuel Akanji.