Pep Guardiola promises to delve into his tactical playbook to solve Manchester City's injury crisis ahead of the derby.
Guardiola, who insisted City are performing well despite seven defeats in 10 games, ruled Manuel Akanji out of the clash with Manchester United, leaving him with three available defenders.
Rico Lewis is suspended and the City boss is considering starting Matheus Nunes or Bernardo Silva at wing-back.
“We are thinking about what to do with the situation,” Guardiola said. 'Maybe a winger should play full-back or Matheus – or maybe five of us play at the back.'
The 53-year-old admitted that his squad of 20 outfield players is too small as City look to strengthen in the January window.
And Guardiola has called on City supporters, who booed the team after the home games against Tottenham and Feyenoord, to show their unequivocal support for the perennial Premier League, which is eight points behind leaders Liverpool.
“I know our fans are sad and I completely understand: maybe in some seasons we have lost seven or eight games in a year and now we have done it in a month and a half,” he added. “All I do is encourage them to support them until the end because they deserve it.
'It made me think about the fact that with this calendar you need a selection of 25 to 30 players. It will be more difficult for the club financially, but we are going to play the Club World Cup in the summer, three weeks and then we start the Premier League again, and maybe we should have a deeper squad.
'When people ask what the problem is, it's the schedule. It's not about the training, not about the doctors, not about the physios, not about the players, not about how they eat or how they rest. There's only one problem: the schedule.
“When we won the Treble or four in a row, we had one, two or three injuries and we were so stable.”
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