Pep Guardiola says new striker wouldn't have helped in Southampton stalemate

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola does not believe a new striker would have made the telling difference in his team's 0-0 draw with Southampton on Saturday.

City were unable to break down a stubborn Saints side and were lucky to escape with a point in the end as the visitors saw a penalty decision overturned by VAR after Kyle Walker tripped Adam Armstrong in the box.

The Citizens' bluntness in attack was laid bare by the fact they only managed a single shot on target throughout the encounter at the Etihad Stadium. The club failed in their attempts to lure Tottenham's Harry Kane to the club during the summer, leaving irregular scorer Gabriel Jesus as the only senior striker at the club following the departure of Sergio Aguero to Barcelona.

But speaking after the game, Guardiola refused to accept that an out-and-out centre-forward could have turned a draw into a win for the hosts.

Pre-empting a question about the lack of goals, he was on the defensive, saying: "Today we didn't win not because we didn't have a centre-forward, we didn't win because our process to make the build-up or give better balls for players up front were not good.

"When they are good, they can run, arrive in other positions. We had just one shot on target but they had four or five blocks in the six-yard box so they were there.

"But that is not the reason. The reason is because we didn't do our process for our back four and Fernandinho. The five guys who have to bring the ball to the other players were not good today."

Guardiola also expressed his frustration at the small amount of time between matches after City faced RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night ahead of a 3pm kick off on Saturday.

"They had seven days to prepare, we had ten minutes yesterday," he added. "The Premier League is 38 games and everyone against everyone but it is not true for the teams who play in the Champions League.

"I would have loved to have more time to recover and be fresh but today we didn't have this freshness in our mind. I would not say in our legs because we had four or five new players but sometimes there are these days."