Thursday 12 November 2015 18:22, UK
Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has pulled out of the Belgium squad to face Italy and Spain as a precaution and has returned to Manchester.
Kompany had played a limited part in training with the national squad having picked up a calf injury in City's 0-0 draw against Aston Villa last weekend and had now been released back to his club.
The defender's fitness was a hot topic during the last international break, with Manuel Pellegrini expressing his unhappiness that he had played for his country after missing five City games with a calf problem.
Kompany played around an hour of Belgium's 3-1 win over Israel on October 13 - then was an unused substitute for City four days later, and only got on in the dying seconds another four days after that, before being restored to the starting line-up for the Manchester derby.
Earlier this week, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots made no apology for his handling of Kompany and stressed the decision about the run-out against Israel was made jointly by the coach and player.
Wilmots said on Wednesday: "I think we did exactly what we had to do. In this case a player and a manager had a conversation and agreed playing for 60 minutes would be the best preparation. Vincent agreed and we made the decision together.
"His situation is that he is a top professional player of 30 years who knows exactly what he needs to do to be fit. I allow him to work how he wants. Many players come here injured and return healthy and match fit. I don't think we can do any better."
League leaders City are next in action against Liverpool on Saturday Night Football on November 21 and it remains to be seen whether Kompany will have recovered in time to feature.
