Manchester City have been handed a major blow in central defence for Wednesday’s clash against Sunderland after captain Vincent Kompany was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The City captain was hurt in Sunday’s win at Southampton and will have further scans to discover exactly how long he will be unavailable.
With Eliaquim Mangala suspended following his sending-off at St Mary’s and Matija Nastasic still not match fit after injury, manager Manuel Pellegrini has a selection headache at the Stadium of Light, where City have lost 1-0 on their last four visits.
‘It was the last minutes [at Southampton], they had also very tall players and we needed a centre back so between him and Fernandinho, it was better for Yaya. But tomorrow I don’t think he will play in that position.
‘Unfortunately for Nastasic, he is injured. again He has two long injuries this season. He has a muscle injury in his thigh. I don’t know if he will be able to work with the squad for one week more so he is not an option for tomorrow.’
City’s victory on the south coast reduced the deficit to Chelsea to six points following the league leaders’ goalless draw at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. However, Pellegrini is well aware of his club’s awful record on Wearside.
‘They are tough team to play against,’ he said. ‘Because they defend very well, at home and away, it is a team that know exactly what they must do during the game. We hope that this season we are going to have more luck.
‘We were never out of the fight for the title, I always say the same answer. We have to play 25, 26 more games – too many points to decide who will be the champion this year.’
Pellegrini was once again asked about Frank Lampard’s future at City and insisted that the decision to keep him at the Etihad or allow to join up with New York City does not hinge on next week’s Champions League decider against Roma.
That is not the reason,’ he said. ‘I don’t think one thing is tied to the other one. The decision with Frank Lampard will be the same if we continue in the Champions League or if we don’t continue in the Champions League.
‘We have the whole month of December to decide. When he came here I expected that he would be the same player he has been his whole career because he is a top player.
For his age, he cannot play three games in a week for 90 minutes but his quality is the same as two or three years ago.’