Hart injury ‘nothing’, but Kompany out for two weeks

Mark Holmes
Joe Hart: Man City frustrations set to end

Joe Hart: Man City frustrations set to end

Joe Hart has played down fears over the injury he sustained in Manchester City’s Champions League defeat at Juventus on Wednesday night.

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 Hart, who limped off with a hamstring problem after 81 minutes.

The goalkeeper 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 Kompany, David Silva, Pablo Zabaleta, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Eliaquim Mangala.

Manuel 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.”