Pep Guardiola is convinced James Trafford will eventually become England's first-choice goalkeeper, despite his lack of gametime with Manchester City.

Trafford returned to City when they activated a £31m buy-back clause in his Burnley contract in July, having spent eight years in the club's setup before departing in 2023. 

He started their first three games of the Premier League season but was dropped after Gianluigi Donnarumma arrived from Paris Saint-Germain on transfer deadline day.

Donnarumma has since started nine games in all competitions, with Trafford's only other appearance coming against Huddersfield Town in the third round of the EFL Cup.

Trafford, who has a save percentage of 73.3% to Donnarumma's 72.2% this campaign, will get a rare chance to impress when City face Swansea City in the fourth round of that competition on Wednesday.

And Guardiola insists his time will come, saying: "We have an incredible 'keeper. For England, sooner or later, he will be the number one.

"I am pretty sure Gigi learns from James and James learns from Gigi. The goalkeepers are always connected."

Asked how Trafford was coping with his lack of minutes, Guardiola added: "The keeper is a special situation because the keeper plays, normally one, and the second one doesn't.

"All I can say is we are delighted with his behaviour in training.

"One of the reasons why we want to go through in this competition is because they all have to be ready, in case we need them in the Premier League and Champions League."

Guardiola also confirmed he does not know when Rodri will return to action, with the former Ballon d'Or winner having missed three games after sustaining a hamstring injury in a narrow win at Brentford earlier this month.

Rodri has endured a stop-start season after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and he may be joined on the sidelines by Erling Haaland, who could be rested on Wednesday after suffering a knock in Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.

"I haven't seen Erling today but it was a knock and day-by-day it is better," Guardiola said. Now we train this afternoon and we will find out more on how he feels and decide if he can play.

"Rodri still is not ready. He is getting better and training with us. No [timeline]. Hopefully soon but not yet."