Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Carabao Cup last 16 game against Brighton at Etihad Stadium (19:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Maresca confirmed he gave Erling Haaland, Ruben Dias, Elliot Anderson, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Josko Gvardiol three days off after Saturday's defeat at Aston Villa "to recover energy" and so they "come back [with] full energy and we go again".

• He also confirmed Geronimo Rulli will start in goal on Wednesday and praised the impact of his back-up goalkeeper, who was signed from Marseille in the summer: "He's good. Before I arrive here I had a conversation with him, he knows exactly his role. Day-by-day he is helping a lot. When he played some minutes he was good and tomorrow he will play again."

• Maresca was asked whether he was tempted to give Marc Guehi some time off after some recent mistakes and playing a high number of minutes for club and country: "Especially in this moment, I'm completely happy with Marc because the way he reacted is fantastic. He's a top guy; again, he's one of the captains, he's a leader and I love Marc, to be honest."

• On first choice goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's recent dip in form: "When a football player or manager don't get results or make some mistakes, it's normal that it [criticism] is a consequence. Gigio, I think, since we started has done well. It's part of the season, they're playing so many games, so many minutes that sometimes it's almost impossible to not make a mistake. He's quite a strong guy. He knows anyway that when he makes some mistake, he doesn't need us to tell him that was a mistake. He recognises that and it's part of the game."

• On whether Rico Lewis's future lies at right-back or in midfield: "He can play in both. In this moment, we also have Matheus Nunes injured so I think he was good in the second half against Aston Villa. But again, it depends on where we need him."

• Are the City players becoming used to playing in front of hostile away crowds?: "The players showed they don't care about the noise in terms of they play the game, they focus on the game and they're doing the right things."

• On facing Brighton twice at home in four days this week, with the two sides also meeting in the Premier League on Saturday: "First of all, they are doing very well; both games are going to be tough games. And then in terms of how we plan the two games, they are so close so we need to make some changes. But again, we have one more session this afternoon and then we'll decide for tomorrow and Saturday."

• More on the challenge posed by the Seagulls: "They are very brave in terms of aggression and when they have the ball, they attack with so many players and are creating many chances, scoring many goals. So yeah, we need to pay attention defensively and we need to do the right things offensively."