Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed Vincent Kompany has returned to training following his calf injury.

Guardiola spoke ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace, per City's official Twitter account:

The Belgian has missed City's last four fixtures, though in that time the team have racked up a stunning 17 goals and conceded just once.

Nevertheless, the Sky Blues are still at their best with Kompany in the team.

There are still question marks over John Stones' defensive prowess, and Nicolas Otamendi's lack of positional discipline is an ongoing concern.

The latter was repeatedly exposed by Liverpool prior to Sadio Mane's red card in their match earlier in the month, and had the Reds taken their chances, it could have been a very different result than the 5-0 thrashing it ended up becoming.

James Robson of the Manchester Evening News and BBC Sport's Phil McNulty noted his struggles in the game:

If Kompany can return to form and most importantly maintain his fitness, it will significantly boost City's chances of achieving their ambitions this term.

Crystal Palace are yet to score this season, so the visit of Roy Hodgson's men could be the perfect game to ease him back into action.