Manchester City are hopeful that further assessments on Kalvin Phillips' injury could deem the midfielder available to face Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Premier League champions played out a 3-3 draw with Barcelona in a charity friendly at Camp Nou on Wednesday, with Phillips making his first start for City since joining from Leeds this summer.
Julian Alvarez, Cole Palmer and Riyad Mahrez were amongst the goals for Pep Guardiola's side as City scratched a late draw after Erling Haaland was brought down in the area on the cusp of full time.
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Mahrez converted from the resulting spot kick and helped his side to their second 3-3 draw in the space of four days.
There were several changes made to the starting XI from an entertaining battle with Newcastle at St. James' Park at the weekend.
Stefan Ortega, Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Phillips were all in the lineup as Guardiola sought to freshen his pack ahead of a league tie with Crystal Palace.
Having only come off the bench for Manchester City in their opening league games, Phillips impressed in the number six role before taking a knock just prior to the hour mark against Xavi's men.
The England international suffered a blow to his right shoulder and signalled to the bench he wanted to come off immediately after as a result of the challenge.
Rodri replaced the 26-year-old, who looked set to face a race against time to be involved against Palace on Saturday.
However, Manchester City have been handed a key boost in their hopes of having Phillips available to face the Eagles.
As reported by Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News, City are hopeful that further assessments on Phillips' injury in the coming days will allow the midfielder to be deemed fit for Saturday.
Phillips has previously spent time on the sidelines after taking similar blows to his shoulder during his time at Elland Road.
The Yorkshireman and City are however both relaxed over the issue and Phillips did not express a significant concern after coming off against Barcelona.
City cannot afford to lose key members of the squad with the Champions League group-stage set to kick off in a few weeks.
Having made an encouraging start to their title defence with early wins over West Ham and Bournemouth, the reining champions dropped their first points of the campaign against Newcastle at the weekend.
Guardiola would be keen on getting his group back to winning ways and shutting the door at the back against Crystal Palace.
Topics: Manchester City, Premier League, Barcelona, La Liga, Kalvin Phillips, Crystal Palace, Pep Guardiola
Vayam Lahoti