Kompany set to lead City at Wembley

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini expects captain Vincent Kompany to be fit for Sunday’s League Cup final against Liverpool.

Kompany has battled persistent calf problems this season, but returned to action this month and turned in an authoritative display at centre-back in Wednesday’s impressive 3-1 Champions League win at Dynamo Kiev.

But the Belgium international, along with right-back Bacary Sagna and forward Raheem Sterling, undertook a recovery training session away from their team-mates on Friday.

“Sagna, Kompany and Sterling are recovering separately after the game but I hope the three of them will be fit,” Pellegrini said.

Should they recover sufficiently, the trio will join a squad bolstered by the returns of winger Jesus Navas (hamstring) and striker Wilfried Bony (calf).

Even though he remains without long-term absentees Kevin De Bruyne (knee), Samir Nasri (thigh) and Fabian Delph (Achilles) for Wembley, Pellegrini will hope he is through the worst of an injury nightmare that has plagued City over recent weeks.

The Chilean cited a raft of first-team absentees among the reasons for selecting a side featuring five full debutants and six teenagers in the 5-1 FA Cup defeat at Chelsea.

He believes Wednesday’s triumph in the Ukrainian capital serves as vindication for that move, while suggesting a surprise FA Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands Wigan Athletic – a week after winning the 2013-14 League Cup against Sunderland – was helpful in that season’s ultimately successful quest for the Premier League crown.

“It [team selection at Chelsea] was a very difficult decision but it was the correct one,” he added.

“One of the reasons we won the Premier League was that we were knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarter-final to Wigan in 2014.”