Hughes rues injury list

Hughes: Injuries have played their part

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Manchester City manager Mark Hughes believes that injuries have played a big part in how his side have performed so far this season.

Hughes has been without long-term absentees such as winger Martin Petrov, striker Valeri Bojinov and midfielder Michael Johnson for large parts of the campaign.

Both Petrov and Johnson were influential players under former manager Sven Goran Eriksson last season but the pair have spent the majority of their time under Hughes on the treatment table.

With players such as Robinho, Benjani, Nedum Onuoha, Darius Vassell, Kelvin Etuhu and more recently Shaun Wright-Phillips all spending time on the sidelines at some point it is no wonder Hughes is looking to strengthen his squad in January.

City have been largely inconsistent so far this term and have even flirted with the relegation zone in recent weeks.

The club sit 15th in the Premier League table just two points off the relegation places and, with Wayne Bridge the only transfer window signing so far, the former Blackburn boss is expected to be busy in the transfer market for the remainder of the month.

"You always have injuries during the course of the season because it's a hard league and there's a lot of demand on players," Hughes told the club's official website.

Squad depth

"To lose the likes of Martin Petrov for such a significant time is a big blow for us because he would have given us a real attacking threat and a variation to what we've got.

"Obviously, Valeri Bojinov was doing well in pre-season and we were very hopeful that he was going to have a real impact this year, but he's been unavailable.

"Michael Johnson as well has played very few games and he's another quality player that's been unavailable to us.

"We know that we would have won more games with those players available, but they haven't been and we have to accept that they're not available at this moment in time and the players that are available have to perform.

"It (injuries) will have a detrimental effect on you unless you have the depth in your squad that would allow their loss to be compensated for.

"That's the point I'm trying to emphasise that maybe our strength in depth isn't as strong as it needs to be so that's what we're looking to address."