Manchester CIty captain Vincent Kompany could be out for a further three weeks after the Belgium FA assigned team physio, Lieven Messchalck, to assess the reason for the Belgian captain’s slow recovery from the latest of a series of muscle injuries.
It was initially hoped that Kompany would be fit to return to action after the international break but Messchalck’s diagnosis was that the City and Belgium captain would be missing a further three weeks but would be back for the Swansea game at the Etihad on December 1.
Kompany will miss home games against Tottenham and Viktoria Plzen but will hope to be included against Swansea and away trips to West Brom and Southampton in early December.
The news will be a blow to City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who lost Kompany on October 5 to a thigh strain in the Everton game. He said:
“I hope that after the international break he can be with us again because he is an important player.”
City have struggled defensively without their talismanic captain and have lost four out of six games away in the Barclays Premier League so far this season.