Dias played more often to make up for Rodri absence

PEP Guardiola suggested he used Ruben Dias more than he wanted to this season to make up for Rodri's absence as he said his remaining players had no option but to pick themselves up and go again.

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

City have just 13 senior outfield players for the Brighton game tonight after Dias and centre-back partner Josko Gvardiol both picked up significant injuries in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

The pair had started eight of the last 10 games together and were established as the first-choice centre-back pairing.

With John Stones injured, Nathan Ake and Abdukodir Khusanov have both largely been kept on the bench; they will now have to start a lot more often, with 20-year-old Max Alleyne recalled from a loan spell at Watford to help out.

Erling Haaland is the only player to feature more than Dias this season and the defender will now be out for four to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Guardiola indicated that he needed Dias to play even when he could have rested as the team required leaders in the absence of Rodri in the middle to control everything.