Manchester City will look to return to winning ways at home against Newcastle United but will be wary that Steve McClaren’s last visit to Manchester saw his side escape with a point after a 0-0 draw at United on August 22.
Eliaquim Mangala, Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfried Bony are in the squad for tomorrow as City’s injury situation has started to improve although key players remain unavailable.
Yaya Toure will be unable to play due to a hamstring injury which was aggravated in the 2-1 win at Borussia Monchengladbach in midweek.
The Ivorian will be joined on the sidelines by Gael Clichy, Fabian Delph, Samir Nasri and crucially captain Vincent Kompany, without whom City have lost games against West Ham and Tottenham.
City’s perfect start to the season, with no goals conceded in their first five games, has been followed by a period in which they conceded eight goals in four games without him since he limped off against Juventus.
Kompany has been struck down by several muscle injuries, specifically his calf, over the years and the signing of Nicolas Otamendi has allowed City extra cover for the times when their influential captain is missing.
Pellegrini said: “Every player has different types of muscles, and unfortunately for Vincent he has a lot of injuries.
“Vincent will continue his recovery from the injured calf and we will see how he improves in the next weeks.” said the Chilean who claimed that Kompany wasn’t fit to play for Belgium but admitted that he couldn’t stop his captain from reporting for duty with his national team.
He added: “He must go to his national squad. I hope that Vincent can return after the international break – maybe after 15 days he will be able to play.
“The calf is a difficult muscle, we must see how he improves in the next few days.”
Pellegrini continued: “You have a history with every player, and I am not just talking about Vincent. You have an average number of games where you don’t play every season except when you are very unlucky with a broken bone.
“Some players will not play the whole year; I remember that we won the last six games of last season without Vincent.”