Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits he's missing Benjamin Mendy.

He hasn't featured for City since January as he battles to recover from a troublesome knee injury.

Mendy underwent meniscus surgery in November and although he returned to the team in the second leg of City's Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Burton Albion last month, he hasn't played since.

Guardiola is refusing to get too down about Mendy's absence, though, as he believes City have four players capable of filling in for him on the left side of the defence.

"I said many times we miss him, I miss him," Guardiola said. "He gives us something special, but he has been a long time injured and it's not the fact that he can come back and immediately go [play], he has to be in the rhythm of what we want to do.

"He's getting power, he's much, much better, but still he didn't train with us today (Friday). The injury is what it is so we have to wait, we have to wait. Day by day."