City lacking Kompany for Hamburg test

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Manchester City midfielder Vincent Kompany has been ruled out of the club's UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg tie against former club Hamburg. The Belgian middle-man has aggravated a hamstring injury sustained in City’s weekend defeat at Arsenal, when the 22-year-old had been expected to recover in time to face Martin Jol’s men.

His absence will be a major loss to manager Mark Hughes' plans, with Kompany having impressed following his arrival from Hamburg last August.

The Blues' midfield was already depleted with another Dutchman and former Hamburg star, Nigel de Jong, ineligible to play in the competition, while Irish international Stephen Ireland is also a doubt, despite travelling with the squad.

However, better news for City is that Bulgarian winger, Martin Petrov, is fit having recovered from a lengthy injury sustained last summer. The midfielder returned to action for the club's reserves on Monday.

Hughes’ side will be hoping to continue a decent run of results away from home in Europe, compared to their drastic Premier League form on the road where they have triumphed on just one occasion this season, away at Sunderland in August.

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Gregg Davies
Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.