Kompany out with injury for longer than feared

Manchester: Vincent Kompany could be ruled out until December for Manchester City after the Belgium team doctor, Lieven Maesschalck, stated he may require eight weeks to recover from his thigh injury.

If so this would represent a blow to Manuel Pellegrini, the manager, who had hoped to have his captain available for the Champions League game against Viktoria Plzen on November 27, a week after the international break.

With the central defender having suffered the problem on October 5, in the 3-1 win over Everton, Maesschalck’s prognosis would mean that Kompany would hope to be available when City host Swansea City on December 1.

Maesschalck told Sky Sports: “I think Vincent is going to be ready in several weeks. We will do everything we can to bring back Vincent in a good way for a long time. First of all he had a rupture, a tear into the abductor and then also he has bad luck with a small thing on the front side now, so it’s everything together.

“It’s not really so long eight weeks is nothing in the time of injury. You must respect biology.”

Earlier this month, Pellegrini said: “I hope that after the international break, one week after the break, he can be with us again because he is an important player.”