Manchester City have confirmed a big blow to their midfield ahead of the Premier League clash with Arsenal on Thursday, as they confirmed that Fernandinho suffered a hamstring strain in Sunday's 3-0 Carabao Cup conquest over The Gunners.
Putting a big hole in the middle
Like many players since Pep Guardiola came to The Etihad Stadium Fernandinho has come on leaps and bounds under his wing, with the Brazilian playing every league game thus far.
There will have been no doubt at putting the Brazilian in at Wembley as Guardiola looked for his first trophy as City manager, but Fernandinho was withdrawn after 52 minutes just before Vincent Kompany's and David Silva's efforts following Sergio Agüero's first-half opener.
Guardiola shared his initial concern following the win and initial scans showed nothing too serious but the Brazilian had suffered a hamstring strain.
A timescale has not been set for the 32-year-old's return but it is certain that he will miss his first league game of the season with the trip to The Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Looking to get some more game time
The two sides will not have expected to meet so quickly following their weekend clash, but Guardiola will be hoping that it will be a quick enough turnaround for him to replace Fernandinho with another Brazilian in the form of Gabriel Jesus.
The young striker had been missing since the end of last year in the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, but two months later made his return as he came on in the 77th minute.
As would have been expected the youngster made little impact in his short return, but he stated he looks forward to regaining some fitness ahead of the season's climax.
"I am happy!" Jesus said to mancity.com. "Very happy to be able to wear this shirt and to win my first trophy with the club in this Stadium, I hope this is the first of many more."
"I am well," the Brazilian happily stated. "I came in and ran for ten minutes, it was a lot but gradually as I get into the games, the more I train, that will help."
"I came back to full training only a week ago," Jesus concluded. "So I’ll improve and get better physically."