Manchester City schedule extra friendly match after Pep Guardiola request

As Manchester City head back home for a two-week training camp with the entire first team, they'll have an extra match to play in preparation for the new season.

The Citizens were only scheduled to face Arsenal next Sunday, which would be their final dress rehearsal before the official season debut, a Premier League match at home against Sunderland.

City should already have played three friendlies this preseason, against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United, but the derby was canceled due to bad pitch conditions in Beijing. Pep Guardiola made it clear that he was disappointed at the cancellation, and he needed another game to see his team in action.

City quickly responded to Pep's request and scheduled a friendly against Scottish side St. Johnstone next week, behind closed doors at City's training ground. There will be no broadcast or media access, but it's enough to please Guardiola and give him another preparation game prior to the Arsenal test.

The next two weeks of practice and the two friendlies will have all the healthy first team players. The last three internationals (De Bruyne, Sagna, Mangala) return to training, and will play these games to begin learning the Pep Style.