Pep Guardiola makes six changes for his side’s match against Slovan Bratislava, with Ortega, Stones, Nunes, Savinho, Foden and Doku all coming into the side.

Man City XI: Ortega, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Gundogan, Nunes, Savinho, Foden, Doku, Haaland.

Subs: Ederson, Carson, Walker, Dias, Kovacic, Grealish, Silva, McAtee.

It is an understatement to say his candidature for a second successive award has had a slow start. City have played six league games this season. Foden has begun none. Euro 2024 was why he was an opening-day replacement against Chelsea. He missed two matches through illness, spent the next as an unused substitute and came on in the last two. Perhaps it is a fact that points to potential improvement for City: Foden, scorer of 27 goals last time around, could provide an injection of excellence for a Rodri-less side.

The training sessions are done and dusted ahead of kick off at 8pm tonight.

“[Rodrigo’s injury] was difficult news for us all to take. I spoke to Rodri yesterday and he’s doing well, recovering,” Stones said, “It’s sad for the standard he has set over the last season has been incredible.

“We know what a key player he is for us, but we want him to be back quickly. We know it will be a long time, but we have a lot of quality players capable of filling in in that position.

“He was in good spirits. Now he knows what’s happened and knows his process to get back, he’s come to terms with it. He is over in Spain with his family. He needs to take time now to relax and recover as best he can.”

Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri will miss the rest of the campaign after having to undergo surgery in the wake of an ACL injury sustained in last week’s Premier League clash with Arsenal.

City teammate John Stones says he is ‘100 per cent’ ready to fill the midfield void left by Rodri’s absence if called on by Pep Guardiola.

He said: “If called upon 100%. It happened a lot over the past two years, me going into midfield. It was difficult in the 2023 Champions League final as I was higher up, which was new for me [but] I enjoyed it.

“Whatever position I am asked to play, or whoever plays midfield, has played there before and knows what’s asked of them by the manager.

“And hopefully we can recreate even better moments than the Champions League final.”

Manchester City appear to have suffered a major blow with Rodri set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury against Arsenal.

The midfielder was substituted in the first half of the clash of Premier League rivals at the Etihad Stadium, with the club confirming that he has suffered ligament damage.

While the Manchester City manager often rotates elsewhere, Rodri is firmly established as a vital figure at the base of midfield and rarely misses the club’s biggest games.

But an expensively-assembled squad does provide Guardiola with a number of alternative options as he looks to replace the Spaniard:

Slovan Bratislava won two of their first three games against English clubs with both home first legs – 2-0 against Tottenham in the 1962/63 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final and 1-0 against Derby in the 1975/76 European Cup first round.

They went on to lose those ties 2-6 and 1-3 on aggregate and have since lost seven of their subsequent nine matches against English opposition, drawing twice.

The last outing against an English team came in the 2019/20 Europa League where Slovan lost 1-2 at home and 0-1 away against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the group stage, making it five successive defeats by English teams.

Pep Guardiola is anticipating a tough test for his players this evening when they take on Slovan Bratislava and explained how watching their match against Celtic showed him that City’s opponents play with courage.

“This is a team that I would say plays with courage,” he said, “I saw the game against Glasgow Celtic and they were not scared to play.

“Not scared to link with their striker and they want to try it. The Champions League it doesn’t matter, I always have incredible respect for all the teams, especially when you play away.

“Hopefully we can be an aggressive team again and take a result.”

Pep Guardiola says that he is hoping Kevin De Bruyne will be back in contention for selection after the October international break.

The midfielder was forced off during City’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan earlier this month and missed their next three matches with a thigh issue.

“Hopefully after the international break he [Kevin] will be back,” Guardiola said, “Everybody is ready - we will put out the best team possible to compete and beat them.”

Rodri has been ruled out for the remainder of the season by Pep Guardiola after the Manchester City confirmed the Spanish midfielder has successfully undergone surgery.

Rodri suffered ACL and meniscus damage to his knee in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

“He had surgery this morning,” Guardiola said. “ACL and some meniscus. So, next season he will be here. This season is over [for him].”