The England centre-back suffered the problem in training ahead of City’s Champions League opener against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.

Stones only returned for Manchester City on Saturday after recovering from a previous muscular problem, with the shock 3-2 defeat at Norwich being his first appearance in the Premier League since the opening day win at West Ham. Guardiola said on Tuesday: “He [Stones] is out four, five or six weeks. He was injured in training this morning. It is a muscular problem.”

Stones’ absence will add to the defensive problems for Guardiola, with French centre-back Aymeric Laporte already likely to be ruled out until January. Guardiola added: “For me as a manager it is an incredible challenge. But I believe in something people don’t know about – spirit and commitment. We will make steps forward to solve this problem.”

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