Five key Manchester City players were seemingly missing from a pre-Brentford training session on Monday afternoon.

The Blues moved six points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a nervy win at home to Leicester City.

Pep Guardiola's side had raced into a four goal lead prior to the interval, but the Foxes scored three times in quick succession after the half-time break to re-ignite the contest.

However, 10 minutes later, two goals from Aymeric Laporte and Raheem Sterling put the result beyond any doubt.

The next task for the Premier League leaders is a trip to the top-flight's newcomers Brentford - a side that have proven to be a tricky task for the so-called 'big six'.

Ahead of the midweek clash on the eve of 2022, five players were seemingly missing in training before this clash, from the video footage and pictures provided by ManCity.com across the course of Monday evening:

Rodri
The Spaniard was sidelined against Leicester City for what Manchester City described as being 'not fully fit'.

Rodri has been vital to the Manchester City's successful season so far and losing him for an extended period of time will hurt the Blues immensely.

Once again however, the former Atletico Madrid man was not spotted training with the rest of the team on Monday afternoon, so one may presume that he will be out of action again on Wednesday.

Kyle Walker
Another player who was described as being 'not fully fit' at the weekend, but has not been involved in the team since his red card in the Champions League against RB Leipzig, is right-back Kyle Walker.

With some key fixtures upcoming, Pep Guardiola will want his star right-back at his disposal sooner rather than later.

John Stones
The centre-back has had a stop-start beginning to the campaign and that looks likely to take continue for a little while longer.

Manchester City described John Stones as being 'injured' before the clash with Leicester, and the Englishman was not spotted again today.

Joao Cancelo / Oleksandr Zinchenko
Both of Manchester City's full-backs for the Boxing Day victory against Leicester City were not spotted in the pictures or videos of Monday's session.

Although, it must be stressed at this point that it is often normal for players who have played the day before to rest and recover in the gym - their absence does not necessarily equate to an injury or a positive Covid-19 test.