Pellegrini unsure on Hart; Kompany out for longer

Matt Stead

Manuel Pellegrini admits it is “impossible to know” the extent of the injury suffered by Joe Hart, while Vincent Kompany is out for another two weeks.

City were beaten 1-0 in Turin to lose control of Group D, slipping to second behind the Italians and facing the prospect of yet another tough draw in the last 16.

But even more worrying was an injury to goalkeeper Joe Hart, who limped off with a hamstring problem after 81 minutes.

Hart later described the injury as “nothing – a little bit tight” but City are going to have to wait until they return home to learn the full extent of the issue.

If the 28-year-old misses the weekend clash with Southampton, he would join an injury list that currently includes Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Pablo Zabaleta, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala.

Pellegrini said: “In this moment, it is impossible to know. He has a problem in his hamstring.

“He has been carrying some problem in his back the last week, so tomorrow we will see with the doctor which is the problem with Joe.”

Pellegrini also expects Kompany to be out for at least a fortnight with his calf problem while there is still no definitive news on Silva’s ankle injury.

Pellegrini said: “Vincent doesn’t have any chance to play this week because he’s not started running already, so he has two weeks more.

“David improved a little bit more the last two days. He’s working with the physio in Manchester.

“We will see. We don’t have many days until Saturday but when we arrive in Manchester we will have a look.”

Pellegrini was upbeat about his team’s performance despite the result allowing Juve to take over at the top.

Mario Mandzukic scored the only goal but both sides spurned a host of other chances. Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure and Fernandinho all missed good opportunities for City while Fernando had a header touched onto the post.

Pellegrini said: “It’s a difficult moment for the team. That’s why in this moment I am not so unhappy in the way we played because we didn’t have many chances to make substitutions.

“I think we were very unlucky to lose this game – I think the minimum we deserved was a draw.

“It’s not an easy stadium, it’s not an easy team, but we couldn’t get the result we wanted.”

Pellegrini has not given up hope of reclaiming top spot, but his side must beat Borussia Monchengladbach and Juventus will need to lose at Sevilla.

“I think the group is not finished,” he said.