Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says the return to full fitness of Kyle Walker cannot come soon enough.

After joining up with the Three Lions and playing a big part in Qatar, Guardiola says that Walker has had some niggles since his return.

But without a Premier League start since the 6-3 victory over Manchester United at the start of October, the City boss says he is ready to make a big impact between now and the end of the season.

“Yesterday he made the first good training session since coming back - he had niggles, some problems and he could not train," Pep said ahead of the Premier League clash at Chelsea.

“Yesterday was the first time I saw the Kyle I know.

"He didn't play for a long, long time with us. Of the last 34 games I think he played 11 so that's a long time out.

Guardiola praised 18-year-old Rico Lewis for the brilliant way that he coped with the pressure at such a young age and says he will also be a big help in the upcoming months.

“We need Kyle back as soon as possible, at his best," the boss added. “Definitely, we need him. Rico is not going to solve the problems, Rico is going to help us.

“You know what Kyle can do because he has shown it for a long, long, long time. The young players have to help the other ones, we cannot put it on Rico's shoulders.

“But Rico has shown you can put a lot of pressure on his shoulders because he reacts very well.

"We cannot forget how he played against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, against Liverpool in Carabao Cup and played [against Leeds] at Elland Road and in the last game [against Everton] he played really good against a tight team and he moved really well."