Pep Guardiola admitted Kevin De Bruyne’s injury is worse that first feared in a worrying update on the Man City star.

De Bruyne has not played for City since being forced off at half-time in the Champions League draw against Inter Milan in mid-September.

De Bruyne has already missed eight gamesAFP

The 33-year-old also missed four months of last season after hamstring surgery.

“I would like to tell you (when he can return), I especially would like to know, but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.

“He feels better to train but to go to the level we need for competition he still has pain. Kevin has to feel good to express the huge talent that he has.”

Asked if the injury was more complicated than it initially appeared, Guardiola added: “Yeah, that’s why I’m not a doctor. He’s feeling better but not the best.

“If he doesn’t come back as quick as possible we will struggle because we cannot sustain it with 14 or 15 players but it is what it is.

“We need players to come back but it is what it is. Hopefully that can happen after the international break.”

De Bruyne will be a huge miss for City, no player has made more passes into the penalty area [33] than him.

This is even more remarkable given the playmaker has missed eight games for the club this season, with them winning six and drawing two.

Guardiola’s side have scored 20 goals across those matches [2.5 goals per game], whereas before his injury they scored 12 in six [2 goals per game].

Guardiola’s injury problems having been growing in recent weeks.

Guardiola’s injury problems have only grown in recent weeksGetty

Newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Rodri is out for the rest of the campaign, Oscar Bobb is yet to play after breaking his leg in pre-season, while Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku will all miss Wednesday’s Carabao Cup trip to Spurs.

After beating Watford in the last round, Guardiola said he intended to play academy players in this competition because of the already heavy demand on his senior squad, although a draw away to Spurs has forced a re-think on that front.

The likes of James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly will hope to be involved, but Guardiola admitted he needed to prepare for the challenge of a Tottenham side smarting from the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at the weekend.

De Bruyne is still leading the league in this stat, despite missing a number of games

“There is someone (who will come into the side) but we play against Spurs,” Guardiola said.

“They’re coming from defeat and I know what that is mentally for managers and players. They’re playing against City, I’m sorry to say it but we have won four Premier Leagues in a row. I know they will be at their best.

“We also won the Carabao Cup four in a row (between the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons) and I always used the early rounds to play guys who didn’t play regularly.

“Now we have a problem that we have a lot of injured players and I cannot rotate like I would and I don’t want to put much pressure on the young players on this stage for this opponents so I have to make a mix of the players.”

City face Spurs in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, which is live on talkSPORT.