Guardiola admits Man City kids will meet Cup opponents Bournemouth | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola plans to play the kids in their Carabao Cup tie with Bournemouth on Thursday.

After victory at Wolves, Guardiola's squad have under 72 hours' rest before facing Bournemouth on Thursday and the manager claimed he has no choice but to dip into the academy.

"We cannot pretend we can recover in three days and then another three days play again," Guardiola said. "We cannot expend the energy we did today (again) on Thursday against Bournemouth because of Sunday (against Leicester).

"It is a lack of preparation, we have seven players out and they are not coming back soon. We will see how many players are available.

"We would like to continue in the Carabao Cup but we don't have players after this period, to be able to play every three or four days. We're going to play mostly academy players against Bournemouth and try to keep the energy for the Premier League."

Academy graduates Tommy Doyle and Adrian Bernabe were joined on City's bench by 17-year-old Liam Delap on Monday. Delap, son of former Stoke defender Rory, is a highly regarded striker and looks set for a senior debut against Bournemouth.