Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has opened up on his decision to leave Erling Haaland on the bench for the entirety of their 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham on Wednesday night.
The Spaniard's side were sent crashing out of the competition after goals from Timo Werner and Pape Sarr, with Matheus Nunes on target for the visitors.
With City struggling to find a way through, many thought Guardiola would throw on Haaland.
Yet the Norway international remained on the bench for the entirety of the showdown as his side's hopes of Carabao Cup glory went up in smoke.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola has opened up on his decision to leave Erling Haaland on the bench for the entirety of their 2-1 Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham on Wednesday night
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Guardiola, speaking to Sky Sports, says the 'plan' was to always leave Haaland out - insisting it could have been a 'waste of energy' for the 24-year-old.
"The plan was not to play today," he said. "We have not had much recovery and it was a waste of energy."
Guardiola is a serial winner. He has dominated English football ever since replacing Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad Stadium back in 2016.
As a result, he could easily be forgiven for feeling frustrated by his side's defeat in north London.
But Guardiola was pleased with the way his team performed at a time when so many top players are sidelined through injury.
"Exceptional. The young players did well," he continued.
"An incredible top side they are so fast and I am really pleased.
"We play so good. If you play a game that quick they attack quicker, we played really good. Of course, in the second half there was transitions they could have finished the game - I know perfectly how good we played.
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"Football sometimes, we are in a difficult position with the amount of players."
Guardiola even revealed that City have just 13 players available at the current moment in time.
The club are waiting to see when Manuel Akanji and Savinho can return to action, with the latter stretchered out of the contest in the second half.
City are also without the likes of Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, too.
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Man City boss Pep Guardiola resisted the temptation to bring on Erling Haaland during his side's Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham
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And Guardiola, when asked about his side's injury issues, added: "We'll see tomorrow.
“We are in real difficulty because the guys who finish had some problems but we will see how they recover.
“I think when we are in trouble, because in nine years I never had this situation with many injuries for many reasons, in this situation, the players step forward more than ever in all they try to do.
“We have a short time for recovery this week. We have 13 outfield players.”
Man City weren't their usual brilliant selves as they lost to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup
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City are next in action against Bournemouth on Saturday (3pm).
The defending champions are currently one point clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
