Manchester City confirm Vincent Kompany could miss rest of season due to injury

The defender has been suffering with a thigh strain and came off at half-time of last weekend’s 4-2 defeat to Manchester United.

And at his weekly press conference, Manuel Pellegrini said Kompany may not feature for the remainder of the campaign.

City have six games remaining and currently sit just four points above Liverpool in fourth place.

"He is injured," Pellegrini said. "It is very difficult to know the way you improve if you are injured.

"He has a muscle injury, we don't know how many weeks. We always know the (approximate) amount of weeks he needs to recover but we don't know if he will be fit from now until the end of the season."

The injury is the latest setback for Kompany in what has been a difficult campaign personally. The 29-year-old Belgium skipper has not been his usual formidable self and has faced criticism of his form as City's title challenge has faltered.

It is also yet another in what has been a long line of leg muscle problems in recent years. Already this season he has missed nine games - mostly in December - with calf or hamstring injuries.

Champions City, who have dropped to fourth after losing four of their last six matches, host West Ham United on Sunday.