talkSPORT pundit Danny Mills has backed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for his decision to field Kyle Walker in the club’s recent Champions League semi-final.

The Lowdown: Surprise return for Walker

The 31-year-old sustained a serious ankle injury in the Sky Blues’ Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid last month, and it was unknown whether he would be able to feature again before the end of the season.

However, the right-back was deemed fit enough to be involved in the matchday squad against Real Madrid last Wednesday and was even named in the starting XI, where he managed to play through his injury for 72 minutes before being replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Walker’s withdrawal soon lead to a collapse in the final stages of the game, though, as City crashed out of the competition following a 6-5 aggregate defeat, just going to show how influential he can be.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-newest-updates/" title="Man City newest updates!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The Latest: Mills defends Guardiola

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills defended Guardiola’s choice to opt for the 65-cap England international despite his recent injury layoff.

The former City right-back said: “Pep had to take that risk with Walker to try and get City into the final.

“And it worked out. They were goals up at that point and cruising. Zinchenko comes on and Real Madrid score two – whether that’s a coincidence, who knows.

“There was nothing wrong with the game plan whatsoever. When you’re two goals up with just injury time left to play – you can’t fault Guardiola and the way Man City played.

“The penalty took all the wind out of the sails in extra time – and that’s when it comes down to fighting spirit and hunger, and Real Madrid just had their tails up and they were able to run down the clock.”

The Verdict: A valuable player to Man City

The £150k-per-week Walker is an absolute rock at the heart of the City defence, currently averaging a pass success rate of 90.3% in the Premier League (via WhoScored), showing his ability and calmness to play out from the back. He has also completed 3.8 long balls per 90 minutes, proving that he can be just as effective in providing service for the strikers at the top end of the pitch.

Walker was once dubbed an “utterly brilliant” player by Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, and it was evident to see the difference in performance levels from before and after he was forced off the field at the Bernabeu last week.

Guardiola will no doubt be hoping that this injury setback isn’t too much of a concern so that he can have the 31-year-old available for selection again sooner rather than later to try and help his team get their hands on the Premier League trophy once more in a couple of weeks' time.

In other news… pundit suggests that there is ‘no way’ that one Man City ace will sign a new contract at the club