Man City captain Vincent Kompany fit for Tottenham battle

The influential City captain has been sorely missed throughout his prolonged periods on the sidelines with recurring calf injuries this season.

The 29-year-old has played just nine minutes in City’s last 20 games in all competitions - an abortive comeback against Sunderland on Boxing Day.

He has now been declared fit for Sunday’s crunch Barclays Premier League clash against title rivals Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium, a match City can ill afford to lose after slipping to fourth in the table.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini said: “Vincent is coming back from a long injury. He is a very important player for our team.

“I think that you have seen Kompany playing so many years here that I don’t have to say what Kompany brings to the team, but he is one of the best defenders in the league and he is the captain of the team.

“I think that every player that will play the game must be 100 per cent and Vincent has been working the last three weeks without any problems. He played 45 minutes in a friendly with the under-21s so I think that he is ready now to play.”

“Bacary has a problem in his knee, some liquid inside the knee, so he had an injection. He needs one week at least to return to work.”