Pep Guardiola has confirmed that all of Nathan Ake, Jack Grealish, and Kalvin Phillips are making progress in their respective recoveries from injury.
Manchester City returned to winning ways in the league at the weekend as Erling Haaland netted his first hat-trick for the Premier League champions in a 4-2 triumph over Crystal Palace.
The Blues conceded twice early on but Bernardo Silva scored his second in as many league games to halve the deficit before Haaland scored thrice in just over 20 minutes to complete the turnaround.
Advert
Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake all missed the win over the Eagles with injury, with Aymeric Laporte expected to return to action at the end of September.
Pep Guardiola handed new left-back Sergio Gomez his Premier League debut against Palace after the Spaniard joined from RSC Anderlecht earlier this month.
Julian Alvarez and Ilkay Gundogan both came on for Manchester City early doors into the second half as they hunted for some inspiration whilst trailing by two to Patrick Vieira's men.
Advert
Alvarez, who is yet to start in the Premier League, maintained his impressive start to life at the Etihad Stadium by being involved in City's second and third goals that were both scored by Haaland.
The Argentine could be handed his first league start against Forest on Wednesday should Guardiola decide to rest Haaland for this weekend's trip to Aston Villa.
Riyad Mahrez started alongside Haaland and Phil Foden in attack on Saturday, with Silva dropping into midfield at the expense of Gundogan, who set up Haaland's hat-trick goal.
Advert
Manchester City team news
Despite his absence from the last matchday, Nathan Ake has returned to Manchester City training ahead of the midweek Premier League clash.
Advert
While the game may come too soon for an involvement from the start, the Dutchman may provide cover from the substitutes bench.
Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips are also making encouraging progress, although the game on Wednesday night looks to have come too soon to see either of the pair feature.
Speaking during his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Nottingham Forest, Pep Guardiola said of the aforementioned trio, "I saw them in the training session, close, running on the other pitch with the ball. They are both, Nathan as well, much, much better.
“We will see for Aston Villa (on Saturday) or the Champions League or the next one, Spurs. They are closer and we will need them as we have few players."
Advert
Aymeric Laporte continues to recover from his surgery in the summer, but is expected to make a return to first-team training in the coming days.
Nottingham Forest team news
Forest midfielder Orel Mangala is facing a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, and is set to miss the trip to the Etihad Stadium.
Elsewhere for the visitors, defenders Moussa Niakhate (hamstring) and Omar Richards (hairline fracture of the leg) are also out of action for Wednesday night’s trip to face Manchester City.
Topics: Manchester City, Premier League, Nottingham Forest, Pep Guardiola, Jack Grealish, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Kalvin Phillips
Vayam Lahoti