Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he is not interested in the upcoming World Cup when he selects his squads over the next three weeks.
With squads for the tournament in Qatar to be announced soon, players may be conscious of not picking up any further injuries in the last three weeks of the Premier League season before attention turns to the World Cup.
However, Guardiola says the best chance of avoiding injury is to give 100 per cent focus to City, warning his players that should any of them be fearing injury ahead of the World Cup then they will not be picked.
“He will not play if I smell this. I’m really good at smelling this. Tactics not, but smelling I’m really good,” Guardiola said of any player holding back to avoid injury in the coming weeks.
“And what is going to happen is that they are going to play because they will get injured when they are not ready. When you are focused, you don’t get injured. Brighton is the only thing that matters to me, and the team.
“I know, but also they can lose their place in the World Cup by not selected or many reasons so they have to be focused every single until the end. It is just two weeks and if you are here, you will be perfect for the World Cup. Otherwise, you will be in trouble.”
