CHILD'S PLAY THE ANSWER AS PEP AIMS TO WAKE CITY UP

PEP Guardiola has a lot of trust in his most experienced City stars – as you would given they have won six Premier League titles in seven years

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

For the moment though, they are struggling. Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne have not been fit enough to show any kind of form, while Ilkay Gundogan appears to have been hindered in finding his rhythm by starting more games than anybody expected after a lack of preseason.

The longer those problems have persisted to worsen a lengthy injury list, the more energy has been sapped from those who have been left to play every three days. While the manager disputed it, it was understandable that Bernardo Silva spoke about the team being in a dark place after their Sporting humbling and in a later interview he spoke about thinking beyond the Brighton game on Saturday.