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Richard Dunn will be absent due to the one-match ban he received for his professional foul on Darren Bent last Sunday, meaning that Mark Hughes must consider what central defensive partnership to go with.
Both Tal Ben-Haim and Nedum Onuoha are options, while Vincent Kompany, back from a one-game ban of his own, played at centre-half back in August when City beat West Ham. The Belgian international’s ban has allowed him to get over the slight groin problem that forced him out of the win over FC Twente, but the Manager knows that he once again forced to make a change due to circumstances beyond his control.
Mark says, “Vincent responded well and we expect him to be fit for Sunday. Having to juggle our defence around has not helped this season, because of suspensions and injuries we have often had to switch things around.
“We’re in a situation where we are missing our captain again, but we still have good players that are available. We would want consistency of selection, but that’s not been available to us.”
Another player still absent on a long-term basis is Michael Johnson, who the Manager admits keeps having setbacks in his bid to shake off a groin strain of his own.
The Manager continues, “We’re trying to get him back, but as I’ve mentioned about Michael before it seems to be one step forward, two steps back. I think the injury is getting resolved and we look to be moving in the right direction, we hope that he will be back training again next week.
"We’ve tried intensive therapy, we’ve tried rest and he has been in training to try to overcome it. We might try one of those again, but the key is get to the state where Michael is an option for us, which at the moment he isn’t.”
As for the rest of City’s fitness issues ahead of the game against Hull at 4.00pm on Sunday, Mark concludes: “Daniel Sturridge has an ankle problem and won’t be available at the weekend, but apart from that there are only the long-term injuries that we already know about.”
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