Friday 24 July 2015 15:18, UK
Manuel Pellegrini says Manchester City must wait to determine the full extent of new signing Fabian Delph's hamstring injury.
The 25-year-old was handed his first start for the club following his £8m move from Aston Villa in the International Champions Cup match with Real Madrid at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
However, it was not the start Delph would have wished to make in his City career, substituted just 18 minutes into his debut.
After challenging Madrid midfielder Luka Modric less than 15 minutes into the match, the England international signalled to the bench his inability to continue while holding his hamstring.
After the match, Pellegrini revealed the club face an anxious wait to find out how severe the damage sustained to Delph's hamstring is.
"Unfortunately, Delph has a problem with his hamstring. We will see tomorrow how bad it is - the plan was for him to play 45," the City boss said.
Unfortunately, Delph has a problem with his hamstring. We will see tomorrow how bad it is - the plan was for him to play 45
Spain winger Jesus Navas replaced Delph in a City side which also contained record-signing Raheem Sterling, who was making his second start following his £49m move from Liverpool.
But with just over two weeks to the start of the new Premier League season, the injury to Delph will be a major concern to Pellegrini.
With Delph on the sidelines, City failed to find any real fluency on the pitch and eventually slumped to a 4-1 defeat to Real.
Pellegrini, however, refused to feel down about how his side is shaping up ahead of the new campaign and cited absentees as well as the late arrival of players on their pre-season tour of Australia for their poor display.
"I'm not concerned as we have many missing players and then a lot of them have arrived late so they've worked just five days," he added.
“We knew before the game that it was difficult to play against a team with such good attackers without (Eliaquim) Mangala, (Vincent) Kompany and (Martin) Demichelis.
“You must also add the other players who are not here: (Wilfried) Bony, (Sergio) Aguero, Fernandinho and (Pablo) Zabaleta.
“Especially defending, we knew it would be a difficult game. Mangala was sick this morning so he could not play and Kompany is becoming a father again so is not here."
