Kompany suffers another set-back

Photo credit:- Getty Images

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has
revealed Vincent Kompany is unlikely to be fit enough to
return for the crunch clash against Arsenal a week on
Monday.

Kompany is suffering with a calf injury - his second of the
season - and has not played since the goalless draw with
Aston Villa at the start of November.

Both the captain and Sergio Aguero (heel) are expected to
return to training next week, but whereas Aguero is in line
for a return against the Gunners, Pellegrini does not expect
his centre-back to regain his match fitness so quickly.

"We’ll see because it’s not the same injury, one is a muscle
injury the other is just a pain in his heel," he told reporters on
Friday.

"It’s difficult for a player just to work three days and to be
ready to play. It’s one thing for a player to be fit after his
injury and the other one is to be ready to play. That’s a very
important difference.

"I think that we will see during the week but I think that we
have just a few days."

City are yet to keep a clean sheet without Kompany in their
starting line-up this season, having conceded 15 goals in the
seven Premier League games he's missed.

In contrast, they have let in just a single goal in the eight
matches he has featured, but Pellegrini is adamant his side
can cope without the Belgium international.

"There are a lot of different things, not just about one player,
when you make mistakes in defence," he added. "We play
very bad with Vincent Kompany and very well with Vincent
Kompany so it is not just one player.

"That is a matter of concentration, some days or some
moments, there are a lot of things we must arrange but I
repeat, I am disappointed [only] with about three games out
of 25. We have seven or eight players injured every game.

"Vincent is always a leader because he is the captain of the
team. [Martin] Demichelis is a very good leader also. They
have different personalities but both of them are leaders.

"I repeat, we are doing very well without Vincent but if you
ask me, this team is better with Vincent of course. That is
why he is the captain and a very important player.