Vincent Kompany could be out for up to four weeks after suffering another calf injury setback, Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed after their 0-0 draw with Leicester City.
Tuesday's match was the first time City have kept a clean sheet this season without the Belgian international in the line-up, but he is set to miss a key run of games in which his side will compete in three different competitions.
"Vincent has an injury, a second degree tear of the calf," Pellegrini said of his captain, who managed fewer than nine minutes as a substitute in the Boxing Day win over Sunderland. "We will see how long he will be out, but I don't think it will be less than three-four weeks.
"I am not a doctor, but with a muscle injury, it will be very difficult for him to be back in less than four weeks.
"But without him, we must continue to defend as we did tonight."
Kompany has made only eight league starts this season, and Leicester are the only side in the top six to have conceded more goals than the Etihad Stadium outfit.
A 0-0 draw seemed an unlikely outcome at the King Power Stadium as Leicester and their visitors are the joint-top scorers in the Premier League.
