Walker backs City squad strength to overcome De Bruyne blow

Kyle Walker acknowledges Kevin De Bruyne's injury makes him a "big loss", but he has backed him Manchester City teammates to step up.

Manchester City has the strength in depth to cushion the blow of Kevin De Bruyne suffering a knee injury, according to Kyle Walker.

De Bruyne was City's Player of the Season in 2017-18 after inspiring Pep Guardiola's side to Premier League and EFL Cup glory, but suffered a seemingly damaging setback in training on Wednesday.

The Belgium midfielder attended the Manchester premiere of Amazon Prime's 'All or Nothing: Manchester City' documentary series on crutches and with a heavily strapped right knee after the incident.

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City has not confirmed a timeframe for De Bruyne's absence, although some reports suggest that he could be out for as long as three months, with a recurrence of the lateral ligament damage that sidelined him in early 2016.

"Kevin's a great player and it's just unfortunate that it's happened to him in training, but there's more than enough depth in the squad," England defender Walker told reporters.

"We don't just rely on one player. It's a team game and whoever steps in will do well. Obviously, it's a big loss, but we've got more than enough cover."

Bernardo Silva impressed in attacking midfield for City in the 2-0 Community Shield victory over Chelsea, earlier, this month and scored a superb game-sealing goal as the champion beat Arsenal by the same scoreline to launch its Premier League title defence last Sunday.

Namesake David Silva is yet to feature this term after the Spain great confirmed his international retirement, with Ilkay Gundogan starting alongside Bernardo Silva at Emirates Stadium.

Academy products Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz could also feature more prominently if De Bruyne is out for a prolonged period.