Manchester City face a grueling two-week schedule from Wednesday but a League Cup clash with Tottenham is not a priority, insists Pep Guardiola.

Wednesday night's trip to north London marks the start of a four-game series away from home for Manchester City, including two consecutive top-flight trips to England's south coast and a trip to the continent for Champions League duties.

After the quick turnaround following their clash with Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, City are preparing for a clash with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon before immediately turning their attention back to their clash with Sporting CP on matchday four of the Champions League.

The run of four consecutive away games will be rounded off with another visit to the south coast and a meeting with Fabian Hurzeler's Brighton & Hove Albion, with all four games expected to test the Manchester City squad to its limits.

At a recent press conference, City coach Pep Guardiola discussed the approach he and his staff will need to take when selecting his teams to face a challenging run of four games in three competitions.

“We talked about it and we have to take care of ourselves, go to sleep, drink, eat well, sleep a lot, train and recover,” Guardiola said. “Who we are is who we are! I would like to have everyone there, that is not the position, we are few, few people – OK!”

The 53-year-old continued: “We'll do what we have to do, I don't even know, and I'll think against Spurs, maybe a few players from the academy, I don't know.”

“We will see, tomorrow, the day after, fortunately we have four days and not three and of course we will go there to compete, but the main goal is Bournemouth and Sporting de Lisboa and Brighton before the international break – that is the most important thing …

“We won't make a decision… If the players are well, they will play against Spurs, but if they have doubts, I won't take any risks against Spurs, that's for sure.”

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are not expected to field their strongest team against Ange Postecoglou's side, but the manager has admitted that the strong team they expect from the north London club means they will be at their You have to be careful when making your own selection.

The 53-year-old is aware that he needs to strike a balance between youth and experience in his lineup to ensure the less experienced players still have a positive experience in a testing environment on Wednesday night.