Friday 29 January 2016 23:28, UK
Man City forward Kevin De Bruyne has confirmed he will be out for 10 weeks with ankle and knee injuries.
It was initially stated by the player's representatives that he would be out for six weeks but De Bruyne himself said on Twitter: "Just got back from the specialist. I'll be out for around 10 weeks."
And he added: "I'll work hard on my recovery and hope to be back on the pitch asap. Thank you all for the supportive messages!"
De Bruyne was taken off on a stretcher in the closing stages of City's Capital One Cup semi-final second leg win over Everton.
The 3-1 score secured a Wembley final date against Liverpool on February 28 and City faced an anxious wait for the latest on the extent of De Bruyne's injury.
His representative, Patrick de Koster, told Sky Sports News HQ that the initial diagnosis for the player's rehabilitation was six weeks but the news is worse than originally predicted.
I'll work hard on my recovery and hope to be back on the pitch asap. Thank you all for the supportive messages!
"I spoke with him earlier and he's a little bit sad because he's got a tear in the ankle and in the lateral in his knee ligaments," De Koster said.
"He wants to play football and he will miss important games - the final and Champions League games. It's something that can arrive in football and the only thing to do is work hard and come back."
De Bruyne, who scored one goal and made another on Wednesday night, suffered the injury following an innocuous looking challenge from Everton defender Ramiro Funes Mori.
After the match, City manager Manuel Pellegrini told Sky Sports: "I am optimistic he will not be out for the rest of the season. He has been very important to us all season."
City could make changes to their 25-man roster for the knockout stages of the Champions League - and the deadline to do so is next Tuesday - but Pellegrini hopes De Bruyne will be back for the latter rounds, if his side get there.
The alternative would have been to include highly-rated striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who missed out on selection for the group stages because City had already filled their quota.
Pellegrini said: "We hope Kevin will be ready at the end of March, so he will just miss the one round of 16. So I don't think we will take him out of the Champions League list."
