Manchester City trained at the City Football Academy on Thursday after returning from the international break.

Kovacic was absent on Thursday (Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola could be without three key players for Manchester City’s Premier League trip to West Ham on Saturday.

Guardiola is back in Manchester after missing three weeks having undergone back surgery, with his international players returning on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of City’s away clash at the London Stadium.

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However, while Guardiola was back from his own injury, there were three key figures missing on Thursday as Mateo Kovacic joined John Stones and Jack Grealish on the injury list.

Stones has been out since the start of the season, with the international break earmarked for his return. Before the Fulham game two weeks ago, assistant manager Juanma Lillo had said Stones was ‘more or less’ there in terms of his fitness.

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However, Stones was left out of the England squad and does not appear to have returned to training, according to Sky Sports News, who were watching training on Thursday.

Also absent was Grealish, who missed the Fulham win with a minor thigh injury, and then withdrew from the England camp after consulting with the Three Lions’ medical staff on the first day of camp. As other England players returned on Thursday, Grealish was not part of training, raising concerns that he is not recovered from his injury.

Finally, Kovacic was missing having not played a minute for Croatia on international duty. Kovacic and his national team manager Zlatko Dalic had confirmed he sat out their win over Latvia with a back issue, but had hoped he could face Armenia in their second game.

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However, Kovacic was an unused substitute in that win over Armenia, with reports in Croatia suggesting the back issue required scans and could see the midfielder miss ten days or more.

One positive was Julian Alvarez training after featuring for Argentina in Bolivia as recently as Tuesday in high altitude in La Paz.

Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk