Pep Guardiola takes swipe at Gary Neville over Manchester City squad selection

Pep Guardiola has joked that Manchester United legend Gary Neville "can be happy" as he intends to name a full complement of players for Manchester City's meeting with Leicester City.

The Catalan coach came in for criticism last weekend when selecting just six substitutes for the 1-1 draw with Burnley, citing injury problems as the key reason why.

Neville was among those to question Guardiola's decision, branding it a "joke" to overlook a youngster for a place on the bench, but the City manager will select a full 18-man squad to face Leicester at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Guardiola said: "We have 18 players tomorrow so Gary Neville can be happy!"

Asked about what he is expecting from the Foxes, the former Barcelona boss added: "They have the fundamentals they have from a long time ago that helped them to be champions in the Premier League. But [Claude Puel] introduced something else.

"They play more between each other, they have more and more passes. They are a strong team. We cannot forget it was not a century ago but two seasons ago when they were champions. Still, they remain - except for two or three players - the same.

"They are so dangerous with [Jamie] Vardy, [Marc] Albrighton, [Riyad] Mahrez if he plays, with [Shinji] Okazaki. We know Kelechi [Iheanacho] in the box is so, so dangerous. They have a lot of arguments to make problems."

Phil Foden and John Stones will return to Man City's squad, but David Silva, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus all remain absent.