Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that his side's pre-season fixtures have not been easy in the absence of many of his first-team stars.
The Spaniard is currently without 15 of the 16 City players that travelled to the World Cup in Russia, with Bernardo Silva the only player to feature ahead of the new campaign.
Guardiola told Sky Sports News that he would prefer to have his squad together after successive International Champions Cup defeats to Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool respectively.
"That is not the easiest situation for any manager, not just for me," the manager said. "I would prefer to be all together but I think for [Bayern Munich manager] Niko Kovac or for the other managers it's the same, the calendar is the calendar and we will have to adapt.
"We would prefer for players to come back as soon as possible but it is not possible."
City's next game in the pre-season tournament is against Bayern on Sunday.
Jonny Whitfield
