Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips this week.

The defensive midfielder is a regular for England under coach Gareth Southgate.

However, he has barely featured for Guardiola in the past one and a half years.

After a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, Guardiola apologized for not selecting him, telling reporters: “I don't know what will happen to Kalvin Phillips. He has good character, I'm so sorry I have not picked him.

“I visualise my team and select a team and I struggle to see him."

On midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, he added: “[He] started to run on the pitch but hasn't trained once with us. Maybe [Club World Cup] will be a little bit early but I don't know.

“Kevin will be back when he is, we don't rush him and when he's back we will welcome him with open arms. We were top not so long ago but now we played Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs & Villa - top teams."