Manuel Pellegrini has said that Sergio Aguero is unlikely to be back in time for the Manchester derby on 25 October.
Manchester City's star striker injured his hamstring while on international duty with Argentina and City faced an anxious wait as to whether he would be fit to play against rivals Manchester United.
But Pellegrini admitted that the 27-year-old, who scored five in his last Premier League match, would not be available for a while.
"Sergio has a muscle injury, an important injury," said Pellegrini at his pre-match press conference. "I don't think he will be back before one month."
Pellegrini added that City would also be without David Silva and Aleksandar Kolarov for the match against Bournemouth at the weekend.
There is good news with club captain VIncent Kompany set to return - he has not played since coming off against Juventus in mid-September.
However, Pellegrini was clearly unhappy with Belgium manager Marc Wilmots, who elected to play Kompany for 57 minutes against Isreal earlier this week.
"I was not pleased. We sent him with a medical report that he was not able to play. But the manager of Belgium can do what he wants," said the City manager.
He added: "There is not a problem with Vincent."
Additional reporting from PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments