Vincent Kompany faces as big a fight to prove he can fit Pep Guardiola’s prototype of a centre-half as he does trying to convince the Manchester City manager that he can win his long-standing fitness battle.

The City captain honoured his commitment to the club’s medical staff to be more honest about his body after a plethora of injury woes by telling Guardiola that he was too “tired” and “not ready” to turn out for the second half of their 1-0 EFL Cup fourth-round defeat by Manchester United on Wednesday.