Pep Guardiola has defended his decision to snub Jack Grealish in Manchester City's recent games.

Grealish joined City in a £100million deal in the summer of 2021 but has endured an awful season. He has made just 11 starts in all competitions, playing just 33 minutes over City's last seven Premier League games.

The winger was left on the bench for both the win over Chelsea and the hammering at Arsenal. Instead, Savinho, Omar Marmoush and Phil Foden have been selected as City's threat out wide by Guardiola.

Grealish's lack of minutes has led to questions over his status at the Etihad Stadium. But Guardiola has firmly insisted he will stick to his selection plans, with Grealish facing a fight to take his place back.

"I'm so sorry they don't get the minutes that maybe they deserve but at the end, the contributions from Jeremy [Doku] or Savinho have been massive this season. This is the only reason why," Guardiola said.

"It's not personal, or I don't like Jack, or I don't have confidence in him. The manager has to sometimes select one player in front of another, not just because you don't like the other one, but because a player can give you in the certain moment of a season, right now better.

"No more than that. Of course I make mistakes and maybe he should play in other games, or maybe players who play shouldn't, but it's my world, my life, and you have to accept it."

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Grealish will be hoping to feature on Saturday when City travel to Leyton Orient in the fourth round of the FA Cup. He played all 90 minutes of the hammering of Salford City in the third round, scoring once and assisting twice in the 8-0 win.

City would be forgiven for having their focus on Tuesday's Champions League play-off first leg against Real Madrid. But with Orient currently sitting in the League One play-off places, Guardiola has warned his side they cannot afford to take their eye off the ball.

"Tomorrow after the game we will come back early to Manchester and after we have time to start to talk [about Real Madrid]," he added. "Of course I have an eye to Madrid but Leyton Orient deserve my attention; always it has been like that.

"Otherwise we would not get the amount of semi-finals and finals of the FA Cup that we had in the last five, six years. That's why I'm concerned and focused on Leyton [Orient].

"Always we've had problems away in this competition, FA Cup or Carabao Cup, away to teams in the Championship or League One or even League Two. Always we struggle. But we are ready for the challenge. Every game is a new opportunity."