Walker vows to make Istanbul final

MANCHESTER CITY rightback Kyle Walker has played down fears he could miss the Champions League final with a back injury.

The England international did not feature in an open training session on Tuesday as City continued preparations for Saturday’s (Sun 3am) clash with Inter Milan in Istanbul.

The 33-year-old looked in discomfort as he was substituted in the final minute of City’s FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United at Wembley.

But Walker was one of a number of players made available for media interviews later on Tuesday and he insisted the problem was not serious.

“I’m fine, I’m just getting old,” he told Sky Sports News. “I’m completely fine, it’s just an extra day of recovery.

“I’ve played a lot of minutes over the last number of weeks so the manager said, ‘Just stay inside and come Saturday you will be raring to go’.

“I’m fine, the minutes that I’ve played when everyone else was injured, I was there digging my heels in and getting through it. I won’t be missing the Champions League final for anything.”

Manager Pep Guardiola also said Walker’s absence from training was only precautionary.

“He has had a disturbance in his back,” said Guardiola at a press conference. “Yesterday he was not good, today he was a little bit better but we didn’t want to take any risks. We will see what happens in the next days.”

City will go into the match as firm favourites against the side that finished third in Serie A and Guardiola said he was comfortable with the tag of favourites.

“We are used to it,” he said. “Why should it be more dangerous? Accept the role and go out there knowing the quality of the opponents. We accept what people say, no problem.” – The Independent