Pep Guardiola counted the cost of a comfortable 2-0 victory over Cardiff that took his team to the top of the Premier League on Wednesday as he faced the prospect of an FA Cup semi-final without a fit left-back.

City, still in the hunt to win all four of the trophies they entered at the start of the season, take on Brighton at Wembley on Saturday, bidding to reach their second final of the campaign. But they will be without left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who limped off against Cardiff after just 18 minutes with a hamstring injury that will rule him out for a number of games. And with England international Fabian Delph also injured and Frenchman Benjamin Mendy yet to prove his match fitness to his manager, Guardiola admitted he has a problem ahead of the Wembley visit.