Manchester City’s struggling stars were forced to sleep at the club’s training ground overnight ahead of their 12.30pm Boxing Day showdown with Everton.
Pep Guardiola revealed that his stars were dragged away from their family homes on Christmas Day with the hope they would embrace the measure with open arms.
‘We train today (Tuesday), we train tomorrow (Wednesday) night, we will stay over here and we are going to play on Boxing Day,’ said Guardiola.
‘Hopefully, they want to be here, because it’s our job.’
Guardiola added: ‘This situation is new for all of us. It’s about us, everyone. The guys are running and making an effort more than ever.
‘People say we are not running, fighting, it’s this player, this manager – it is not about that.
‘It is about many little details or some big details that make us not as good as we were. But we have another opportunity on Boxing Day.
‘We have players coming back and at a certain time we will be better.’
City have lost nine of their last 12 matches, the worst run of Guardiola’s managerial career, and last tasted victory on December 4 against Nottingham Forest.
