Erling Haaland says lack of pre-season will make this a tough campaign

The 26-year-old did not feature in pre-season after spearheading Norway’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Erling Haaland fears a lack of pre-season could come back to bite him (Cody Froggatt/PA)

Erling Haaland fears his lack of a summer break could catch up with him during the coming season.

The Norwegian has made a strong start to the new campaign with three goals in Manchester City’s first three matches.

But the 26-year-old did not feature in pre-season after spearheading his country’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals and he acknowledges that could come at a cost.

Haaland said on his YouTube channel: “The new season started and I didn’t even have a pre-season. I normally have a bit of pre-season but this time, just nothing.

“The physical side will come – if you manage to stay injury free, but you need to be sharp mentally as well, and that’s not easy.

“We need to have that eager feeling to go back but we don’t because there is no time to properly stay away from football because there are so many games and the season is longer.

“I’m not complaining because it’s still a positive thing that you get to play football throughout the whole year and live off it.

“But sometimes we need a break as well. So we’ll see. I’ve never been in this situation before. I never played a World Cup so I don’t know how it is.”

City manager Enzo Maresca recognises he will have to ensure his players get sufficient rest throughout the season.

Speaking ahead of his side’s Champions League opener against Porto at the Estadio do Dragao, the Italian said: “It’s not easy for Erling or for most of the players that continue to play for club and international team.

“I think it is correct in the moment that you see these players start to give them some rest. It can be one game out or one week away. It depends on which moment we are in.”

Managing his players’ workload will be one of the challenges facing Maresca as his first season at City starts to gather momentum.

The Italian is still putting his own stamp on the squad after succeeding the long-serving Pep Guardiola, with one of the changes he has introduced being the use of music during training sessions.

“It’s something that I had in Leicester and in Chelsea and I introduced here,” said Maresca.

“I think the players are more happy with the music and can work better. It’s just to create more environment for them.”

Maresca added he would probably prefer “different music” but was happy to let the players choose the tunes.

City are without Nico O’Reilly due to a back complaint for the league phase opener but he could be available to face Manchester United at the weekend. Jeremy Doku is out with a calf injury.

“They’re a very, very good team,” said Maresca of Porto. “They’re very clear in the way they play and it’s very clear that they are aggressive without the ball.

“Congratulations to them but hopefully tomorrow we can win.”