As Rodri continues to nurse a season-ending injury, it seems like Pep Guardiola has identified Mateo Kovacic as his alternative ever since the midfield maestro has been sidelined.

Kovacic has now started at the base of midfield in successive Premier League games against Newcastle United and Fulham.

It could be argued that the Croatian international has become Manchester City's most important player currently - considering his task is to deputise for potentially the club's best player.

Kovacic executed Pep Guardiola's instructions of being on the prowl for goalscoring opportunities in and around the opposition box to a tee as he scored a brace against Fulham in City's latest 3-2 win and displayed that he is ready to step into Rodri's shoes.

Much like the Spanish international, the 30-year-old exhibited the same knack of scoring crucial goals for his side.

Fulham largely managed to keep Erling Haaland quiet but Kovacic and Jeremy Doku emerged as unlikely goalscorers for Manchester City on the day.

Kovacic makes worrying Rodri admission after Man City beat Fulham While the Sky Blues seemed to miss Rodri in their 1-1 draw against Newcastle, the fact that they still remain unbeaten and one point off the top of the league table gives them reasons to be positive.

The PS62.5 million man's value to this City side knows no bounds and yet, they are managing to put results together.

Having had key players like Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones injured for significant spells in the past, this Manchester City side have plenty of experience in having to challenge for league titles in the face of adversity.

Once again, Pep Guardiola's men find themselves in a similar situation.

Yet, the Premier League winners seemed to have come together as a group and continue to chase glory - judging by how they ultimately ground out a result against a top-quality Fulham side.

However, despite his brilliant brace against Marco Silva's side, Kovacic has admitted that Manchester City are missing Rodri.

The goalscorer said via City's official website: "I'm playing at the moment there so I need to cover for Rodri. We miss him a lot, I think any team would miss a player like Rodri."

"We wish him a speedy recovery and that he comes back in good shape as soon as possible. But for now, we have to adapt and for sure the manager has a lot of options so we can rotate."

"We play every three days and every game is a tough one. It is not easy and we have to adapt to the schedule. It is what it is. We have to be in top form every day."

Mateo Kovacic is spot on about how much Man City miss Rodri While Kovacic deserves a lot of credit for his goals against Fulham, Manchester City's unconvincing display was a reminder of how much they are missing Rodri within their ranks.

The London-based side could count themselves unfortunate not to have even left the Etihad Stadium with a point in the bag as their profligate finishing cost them on the day - primarily due to Adama Traore's off day in front of goal as he missed three big chances.

The primary reason why Manchester City conceded two goals at home and several other chances was due to how Fulham were causing them a world of problems on the counter-attack.

With Kovacic not being a natural defensive midfielder, he was often unable to sweep up such signs of danger like Rodri has mastered to over the years.

Furthermore, in the former Atletico Madrid maestro's absence, a City midfield trio that featured Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden struggled to physically cope with Fulham during the contest.

As per Sofascore, the former Chelsea midfielder won a mere two out of his eight ground duels during the game.

Gundogan won two out of his four ground duels while Foden won two out of his five.

With that being the case, Fulham were able to bulldoze through Manchester City's midfield and attack at will.

Pep Guardiola's side looked quite vulnerable in the middle of the park and Kovacic's admission coupled with his struggles at the base of midfield against the visitors highlighted Rodri's undeniable importance to this City juggernaut.