Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva has said that Manchester City have nothing to prove amid the injury crisis at the heart of the defence. The Citizens have recently witnessed injuries for Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, and this has left them with just one senior central defender in the form of Nicolas Otamendi.

Speaking to reporters, Silva said that the Premier League holders don’t need to prove anything, given what they have done in the past two campaigns. He added that the team are relaxed and have always reacted positively on the back of surprise defeats, he told: “People can criticise and say what they want. We don’t need to prove anything to anyone after what we’ve done the last two seasons. We’re relaxed.
“Of course, we’re not happy because we want to do better and we know losing against Norwich isn’t ideal, but all teams have good and bad moments. It’s impossible to stay three seasons, only with good moments. Sometimes, you will have bad moments and it’s the way you react to those bad moments that show how good a team you are and that’s what we’ll try to do. Every time we’ve had bad moments in the past, we’ve always reacted well and that’s what we’ll try to do again.”

The Mancunian giants have made an average beginning to the current season and they have accumulated just 10 points from the opening five league matches. As a result, they are already five points behind Liverpool at the top of the table but manager Pep Guardiola has recently said that he has complete faith in his players to turn things around.

Meanwhile, Fernandinho has acted as the makeshift central defender in the absence of Stones, who is sidelined for around four weeks with a thigh problem. The Brazil international helped the Citizens keep a clean sheet during the recent Champions League triumph at Shakhtar Donetsk. Manchester City are scheduled to host Watford during the weekend’s Premier League clash.