Despite only recently making his comeback from a long-term hamstring injury, Manchester City attacker Samir Nasri could face another short spell on the sidelines.
The Frenchman had to sit out most of the season due to a hamstring injury, but hit the ground running after making his return in the last two matches against West Brom and Chelsea. However, manager Manuel Pellegrini believes that he may have pushed the attacking midfielder too hard since his comeback, with the 28-year-old doubtful for the Newcastle game.
“He [Nasri] played 90 minutes at the weekend and then another 75, maybe it was too much,” Pellegrini was quoted as saying by Manchester City’s official website. “He was feeling well, it’s a small muscle injury, it’s not too important, we’ll see how many days.”
Meanwhile, captain Vincent Kompany is set to get back to regular action and winger Raheem Sterling may also see a few minutes on the pitch as he continues his recovery from a serious groin injury.
“Kompany has been injured so the other defenders have done well, but he will be an important help for the defence,” said Pellegrini. “We’ll see, he’s [Sterling] coming back from an important injury, we’ll see if he can play some minutes.”
Kompany return a huge boost
One advantage that City have is that of a big and talented squad, which will be very useful to them during this stage of the season. They have a brilliant opportunity to get into the Champions League final, even if it is the mighty Real Madrid standing between them and the showpiece in Milan.
However, they also have to fight on the Premier League front as they need to confirm Champions League football for next season in the fairly likely event that they fail to win the competition this season. This is where the return of an experienced defender like Vincent Kompany can help the Sky Blues. The Belgian has proved time and again that his leadership qualities on the pitch are essential for City, who will be looking up to him to lead the charge in this crucial part of the season.
