Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany could be sidelined with a calf injury until “the last part of the season”, manager Manuel Pellegrini revealed on Tuesday.
Kompany, 29, has made just 12 appearances this season due to a succession of calf problems.
The Belgium centre-back’s latest injury, sustained during City’s 4-1 win over Sunderland on December 26, was initially expected to keep him out of action for four weeks, but Pellegrini has revised that prognosis.
“Vincent maybe not so soon,” Pellegrini told a press conference when asked when his captain was likely to return. “But for the last part of the season he could be fit.”
Asked if he could provide an update on Kompany’s situation, he said: “Not in this moment. It is difficult because Vincent is doing a lot of different things to try to understand and to find the reasons for so many injuries.
“At this moment it is difficult to tell you an update about that.”
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Kompany’s importance to City is borne out starkly by statistics. They have conceded only one goal in the Premier League while he has been on the field and have kept just one clean sheet in the 11 games he has missed.
City have also lost Kompany’s fellow central defender Eliaquim Mangala to a hamstring injury, but Pellegrini said that he has no plans to bring in cover during the January transfer window.
“We have [Martin] Demichelis, we have [Nicolas] Otamendi, we have Bacary Sagna, who can play in a central defensive position,” Pellegrini said.
“We have Cameron (Humphreys), who is a young player who featured in pre-season with the squad. Mangala will return soon. So at this moment we are not thinking about making a change.”
City are three points below league leaders Arsenal in third place ahead of Wednesday’s home game with Everton.
Manchester City and Everton play the second instalment of their league and cup trilogy on Wednesday with all parties insisting thoughts of Wembley will go on hold.
The two clubs met in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final at Everton last Wednesday when the Merseysiders got their noses in front thanks to a 2-1 win.
They will meet again in Manchester on January 27 to decide who gets to the final at Wembley, but before that face each other in the Premier League at Eastlands.
And Everton manager Roberto Martinez says it is important for his players to forget the cup for now and focus on the league showdown.
“The game on Wednesday is so important in the league for different reasons; they’re trying to get that top spot and we’re trying to get as high up as we can, and the three points are important in themselves,” he said.
“So I don’t think we need to look any further than that.
“Playing a team three times in three weeks will have a role in terms of how you prepare the game but not in a conscious manner.”
Both sides are likely to show changes from the teams that met a week ago, with City’s former Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling hoping to get a crack at his one-time local rivals.
“I’ve never come up against the same team as often as this and it is a pretty quick turnaround,” Sterling said.
“But I didn’t play in the League Cup semi-final first leg last week so I obviously hope to be involved this time.
“We know this is an opportunity for us but we just need to focus on what we need to do to win the Premier League and not worry about other teams and what they’re doing.
“That way, we don’t let anything affect our thinking and purely focus on our own performance.
“We’ve played a lot of away games over the past fortnight so we’re looking forward to playing in front of our own fans again on Wednesday.”
City, three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal, completed a run of four successive away fixtures with a 3-0 win at Norwich in the third round of the FA Cup last Saturday.
That win has kept Manuel Pellegrini’s side on course for an unlikely quadruple of trophies domestically and in the Champions League.
City manager Pellegrini, who is likely to have Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and David Silva back from injury to face Everton, said: “It’s very important to be focused game by game.
“We’ve played in the FA Cup and now we must return to the Premier League. We have to play two games at home and it’s very important that we try to reduce the gap that we have with Arsenal.
“We have so many games to play in January that it is important to have the whole squad fit.
“The team played very well [at Norwich] and now we must choose which is the best team to start against Everton.”
Martinez rotated his squad for their 2-0 FA Cup win over League two side Dagenham and Redbridg,e but is expected to have top scorer Romelu Lukaku, who headed the late winner against City in the League Cup clash, back on Wednesday.
Tim Howard may return in goal for Everton, 11th in the table but beaten just once away from home this season, but defender Seamus Coleman and midfielder Tom Cleverley are out through injury.
Premier League fixtures (in UAE time)
Tuesday
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace, 11.45pm
Bournemouth v West Ham United, 11.45pm
Newcastle United v Manchester United, 11.45pm
Wednesday
Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion, 11.45pm
Manchester City v Everton, 11.45pm
Southampton v Watford, 11.45pm
Stoke City v Norwich City, 11.45pm
Swansea City v Sunderland, 11.45pm
Liverpool v Arsenal, midnight
Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City, midnight
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