Kompany set to defy City boss Pellegrini

Expect to see a few depleted line-ups in the Premier League this weekend, though managers will be hoping nothing more changes between this evening and getting all their players together on Wednesday afternoon.

After it lost 1-2 to Cyprus at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on Saturday night, the Israelinational team’s only chance to finish in third place and qualify for the playoffs is to win over group’s leader Belgium while hope that Bosnia-Herzegovina doesn’t beat Cyprus on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old still went on worldwide duty despite the problems and, although his side have already qualified for next summer’s tournament in France, Wilmots has revealed that he is preparing to play the centre-back in the tie with Israel on Tuesday.

“He is free of pain and ready to play, so I think he’s good right now”, Wilmots said.

City boss Manuel Pellegrini was adamant before the worldwide break that Kompany could not play for Belgium because he is recovering from a calf injury.

Wilmots said: “It’s not a question of whether I agree with Pellegrini – it has been my objective for 10 days. There’s one more practice before the match – Vincent has to prove he’s okay to play, then I have a choice to make”.

“He’s been working with the rest of the squad since Friday, and that’s good for Manchester City and good for Belgium”.

“We can’t do anything about that because they have the decision – but he cannot play”.

City face an anxious wait over Kompany’s ability to avoid further injury while playing for Belgium, with the current global break proving disastrous for the Premier League leaders.

But Wilmots insist he couldn’t care less and won’t be told who to pick when it comes to his own players.

City are also waiting to assess Aleksandar Kolarov after he limped out of Serbia’s defeat to Portugal.