Manchester City monitoring David Silva fitness ahead of Villa visit

Tests have confirmed the Spain international suffered no fractures after being caught in the face by an elbow from Cheikhou Kouyate in Sunday's Barclays Premier League defeat of West Ham.

But the club say the player will still need careful monitoring this week as they wait to learn the full extent of the problem.

Silva was carried off on a stretcher after receiving around eight minutes of treatment on the field following the incident, which occurred in the second half of City's 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

He was then taken to hospital but the club allayed fears over his condition on Monday by confirming nothing had been broken.

"Tests confirm @21LVA did not suffer a fracture against £WHUFC, he'll be monitored closely this week," a tweet read.

The positive update will be a boost for under-pressure manager Manuel Pellegrini given his already lengthy injury list.

Captain Vincent Kompany, midfielder James Milner, defender Gael Clichy and strikers Stevan Jovetic and Wilfried Bony are all currently sidelined.

City's season is set to end in under-achievement following the collapse of their title defence but beating West Ham at least gave them some respite from the growing pressure.

Pellegrini's men, joint top of the table on New Year's Day, have slumped to fourth place and could yet face a battle to retain a Champions League spot.

They face their next test as FA Cup finalists Aston Villa visit Eastlands next Saturday evening.

Midfielder Fernando said: "We always want to win the big matches, so it was really important to get a victory, and now we want to keep form and make sure we try to win the last five matches."