Gary Neville was not at all happy with Pep Guardiola after the Manchester City boss named just six substitutes on the bench in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Burnley.Guardiola said he simply didn’t have any more players to choose from, with a number of his first-team players out with injuries, and didn’t want to call up a youth team player because they played on Friday.But Neville wasn’t having any of it."I think it's a joke, I absolutely think it's a joke,” Neville said on Sky Sports."Forget the second team. Even if they played yesterday, bring one and put them on the bench. Bring a kid to travel with the team, help the kit man and put him on the bench to have the experience of being in a Premier League game. Give someone a boost at the club.”

Guardiola has hit back by mocking Neville

Many football fans agreed with Neville. It seemed like Guardiola has wasted the chance to hand one of his young players the opportunity of a lifetime.

But the 47-year-old doesn’t see it that way.

He’s hit back at Neville by reiterating the number of injuries Man City had, while also poking fun at the pundit’s failed stint as the manager of Valencia.

It's quite simple, we had a lot of injuries. We had that day a training session at 4 p.m. in the afternoon, at the same time five or six of the players I could have taken, had a game here," Guardiola told a news conference.

"It was just one or two hours later and it would not have been correct to go the [youth team] manager who is preparing for the game and say 'I need one or two players to go on the bench' when they are going to play. For that reason, I didn't call him.

"This guy, the pundit, he has to know my job is serious, it's not a joke, never is it a joke. It's so serious. And he should know that because he was a manager ... for a short time."

That last sentence. Ouch.

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Man City host Leicester on Saturday

When asked whether Neville’s comments hurt him, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss replied: "A lot! You cannot imagine, a lot. Especially when we lose. If we won the decision would have been magnificent."

Man City host Leicester City this evening, and all eyes will be on the number of players on Guardiola’s bench.