Pep Guardiola reveals he is considering drastic tactical reshuffle to overcome Man City’s injury crisis for crucial Manchester derby

Pep Guardiola is promising to dip into his tactical playbook to solve Manchester City’s injury crisis before the derby.

Guardiola, who insisted that City are performing well despite seven defeats in 10, ruled Manuel Akanji out of the meeting with Manchester United – leaving him with three available defenders.

Rico Lewis is suspended and the City boss is contemplating starting either Matheus Nunes or Bernardo Silva as a full back.

‘We are thinking what to do with the situation,’ Guardiola said. ‘Maybe some winger has to play as a full-back or Matheus – or maybe we play five 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 home matches against Tottenham and Feyenoord, to offer their unequivocal backing to the perennial Premier League who lie eight points behind leaders Liverpool.

Rico Lewis is suspended and the City boss is contemplating starting Bernardo Silva at full back

The 53-year-old admitted that his squad of 20 outfield players is too small

‘I know our fans are sad and I understand completely, maybe we lost seven or eight games in a year in some seasons 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’s made me reflect that with this calendar you need a squad of 25-30 players. It will be more difficult financially for the club but we are going to play the Club World Cup in summer, three weeks then start the Premier League again, and maybe we have to have a deeper squad.

‘When people ask what is the problem it’s the schedule. It’s not the training, not the doctors, not the physios, not the players, not how they eat or how they rest. It’s just one problem: the schedule.

‘When we won the Treble or four in a row, we had one, two or three injuries and were so stable.’