Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce is digesting mixed news on the injury front.
Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce is digesting mixed news on the injury front ahead of next Monday's game against Aston Villa.Pearce is looking to build on City's fine start to the season by picking up another three points against the Midlands side.
He could be boosted by the return to his squad of Richard Dunne, Andy Cole and Ben Thatcher, while Trevor Sinclair is back in training after missing the past month.
On the downside, Claudio Reyna, Nedum Onuoha and Willo Flood face spells of inactivity, with Pearce hopeful he has got enough cover in his squad to compensate.
"Trevor Sinclair has just started light training and I'm very pleased about that as he is ahead of schedule," said Pearce.
"Richard Dunne should start training in the next day or two. Cole and Thatcher started training today.
"Flood is out for a couple of weeks, Claudio from the weekend will be out at this stage for probably in the region of maybe three weeks. We have to address that as we go along. Nedum Onuoha is a couple of weeks.
"We have got other players to come in and play.
"Speaking to Andy he was fit to play last weekend but knew in his heart of hearts that he wasn't and might cause himself damage by playing, so it was the wise thing to do to drop him away from it.
"Hopefully, that bears fruit by his availability on Monday."
Pearce also confirmed the club are hoping to extend Reyna's contract at The City of Manchester Stadium, with the American midfielder's present deal expiring at the end of the season.
"We are talking to Claudio at the moment," added Pearce. "He has done extremely well, certainly for me since I've been involved in management.
"We are losing quite a few next summer who are out of contract so we have addressed one or two already.
"Antoine Sibierski signed recently, David James has re-signed, Claudio we're speaking to, Stephen Ireland has extended his contract.
"It's just a case of ticking off the ones we want to keep. Everyone is desperate to stay at this club, whether they are seniors or juniors, and that's the beauty of it at the moment."
