Jack Grealish is now doubtful for Manchester City’s match against Crystal Palace this coming weekend, which could present Pep Guardiola with a minor injury crisis in the attacking department. The England international was one of the select few who managed to retain their spot for the Champions League matchup against Crvena Zvezda in Serbia after last Sunday’s victory over Luton Town.

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Despite having a plethora of options in attack, the front three for the trip to Kenilworth Road was virtually already known with Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku out injured.

In place of the duo, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez formed a trio with Grealish and it was the latter duo who combined to score the winner after Bernardo Silva cancelled out Elijah Adebayo’s opener.

Despite Guardiola’s initial update on Haaland appearing a worrying one, his comments ahead of the Champions League clash provided some optimism of a return over the weekend.

“He will be back on Thursday, day after tomorrow, and we see how he feels. I cannot answer [about if he can play Saturday], I don’t know right now. The next press conference I can be more precise about his condition,” the Man City boss revealed.

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With Doku and Haaland remaining unavailable, along with Man City already having qualified for the Champions League knockout stages, youngsters Oscar Bobb and Micah Hamilton were handed starts.

Despite the changes, Man City kept up their 100% record in European action with both Bobb and Hamilton on target in a 3-2 win. While that would have certainly pleased Guardiola, the early exit of Grealish potentially due to injury would’ve been far from that.

The 28-year-old was seen to by the medical staff in the first half after pulling up holding his side before he was later fouled recklessly by a defender moments before the interval. Upon the half time whistle, cameras captured Grealish complaining to the referee while still holding the side of his body that was bothering him in the opening stages.

For the second half, to potentially avoid any further damage, Phil Foden was brought on as his replacement with John Stones managing 86 minutes as he continues to build up his game time after enduring an injury-ravaged campaign thus far. Matheus Nunes also looked to suffer an issue after an acrobatic attempt ended with him landing awkwardly on his shoulder, however he was able to continue.