Gael Clichy is hopeful Vincent Kompany has overcome his injury issues, despite the Manchester City captain leaving the pitch late in a 2-1 EFL Cup victory over Swansea City.
Having just returned from a lengthy injury lay-off, Belgium defender Kompany was excellent for City in his first appearance since May, as second-half strikes from Clichy and Aleix Garcia set up a fourth-round clash with rivals Manchester United.
However, the victory was soured somewhat by the sight of Kompany leaving the field of play in stoppage time - moments after Gylfi Sigurdsson netted a consolation goal for Swansea - but Clichy believes that his team-mate will be able to continue his return to full fitness.
"Most of the time when you come back after a long period you don't play for more than an hour," Clichy told City's official website.
"So I think he was probably just a bit tired and hopefully it will just be a matter of days.
"Vincent is Vincent. Fully fit he's one of the best centre halves in Europe and we all know his quality. We've played well so far but having someone like him is a real bonus."
After an indifferent first half, it was an impressive display in the end from the holders, who turned on the style after the interval on Wednesday to claim a ninth successive win under Pep Guardiola.
And with youngsters Garcia, Angelino and Kelechi Iheanacho all impressing at the Liberty Stadium, where fellow newcomers Brahim Diaz and Tosin Adarabioyo also made cameo appearances, Clichy is confident City's future will only get brighter.
"The academy provides some good players like we've seen tonight. It was nice to see the young players and it's good for the fans to see the future of the club," the 31-year-old added.
"We could have avoided the goal as in England you never know until the final whistle. The first half wasn't good enough but then we started to play in the second half.
"The victory is the most important thing though because if you lose you are out of the competition so now we can rest and look forward to Saturday."
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