Ahead of the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola says he doesn't plan to make any new signings in January and would much prefer to see his injured players return to action instead.
Manchester City have suffered some disappointing results since Ballon d'Or winner Rodri sustained what looked to be a season-ending ACL knee injury in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal in September.
The additional absences of Nathan Ake, Oscar Bobb, John Stones and Mateo Kovacic amongst others - with Manuel Akanji now ruled out for weeks with a pelvic problem - leaves the champions' Premier League title defence under serious threat, with City eight points behind leaders Liverpool.
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When asked whether he planned to sign anyone in January to bolster his depleted squad, Guardiola replied: "No. What I want is my players back - the players that we have.
"I want the squad that we had at the beginning of the season that were desperately competing.
"This is the only regret I have, that I don't have these players - not new ones.
"In the right moment, we will see. The transfer market has shown how expensive players are in the past four or five years. I'm sorry, we're not the best in those terms."
He added: "If we need players then we go to the transfer market but I don't know who is around.
"We have known it from the beginning but Rodri is a Ballon D'Or player. We are playing without the best player in England last season. That is the problem.
"It is difficult. The moment he comes back, we will be strong again. We will be a good team. Sooner or later we are going to be back."
Pep forced to shuffle his pack
Guardiola hinted that he may be forced to field players in unfamiliar positions, due to the injuries that he blamed on the volume of matches.
"The schedule is the problem, it’s not the physios, doctors or players. This is the truth," he said in his pre-match press conference ahead of the home derby against Manchester United on Sunday.
"I don’t know what I have to do, I need players. Maybe a winger will have to play as a full-back or maybe we play with five at the back.
"We are thinking what to do, but the soul and spirit of the team is there. I am sad for the players.
"I know and completely understand our fans may be sad. This group of players have made an era and done things no one else has done. [They have] broken records. I just call the supporters to be there until the end.
"We have more injuries than ever and it’s made me think that you need a squad of 45/50 players. It would be more expensive for the summer but maybe you need more depth of squad."
As to why Man City have endured a run of form where they have lost seven of their last 10 matches, having taken 104 matches to have suffered their previous seven defeats, Guardiola suggested he knew the answer.
"I’m really pleased with the way we’ve played," the 53-year-old insisted. "I know from my career when we are playing good and not so good.
"We have to shoot more and cut out the mistakes. But we have been in the games. We have not been consistent for the 90 minutes but I know the reason why."
