Manchester City will be without Kompany on Saturday; Aguero fit

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that captain Vincent Kompany is unavailable for Saturday's visit of West Ham United with a calf problem, but Sergio Aguero is 100 percent fit.

Kompany limped off with 15 minutes remaining in Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League loss to Juventus and will miss both this weekend's match and next Tuesday's Capital One Cup trip to Sunderland. The defender is a doubt for the away game at Tottenham Hostpur in a week.

Despite an injury to his skipper, Pellegrini is pleased to have other influential members in his squad.

"We're lucky as we have other leaders inside the team – we have Yaya (Toure) or Joe Hart or (Nicolas) Otamendi or (David) Silva – we have players who can assume the role of captain in the team," the Chilean told reporters.

Pellegrini also sparked speculation over whether centre-back Otamendi will be handed his first start for the Citizens on Saturday.

"It's important for Otamendi to show why he’s here and for (Martin) Demichelis to play again after doing so well," he argued.

After a long history of niggling injuries, City has received a boost with the news that Aguero is back in contention to start. The Argentinian took a kick to the knee from Crystal Palace defender Scott Dann last Saturday, but after seven minutes off the bench in midweek he is fully fit for the visit of the Hammers.

Pablo Zabaleta is closer to a return but remains on the injury list alongside Gael Clichy and Fabian Delph. Samir Nasri has joined the trio after "he had a kick in the last game."

City currently sits top of the Premier League after five wins in five games, but Pellegrini is wary of the threat of Slaven Bilic's side who has recorded a strong away record so far.

"West Ham are doing very well, especially away. It's not luck to beat Arsenal and Liverpool – we must be careful," Pellegrini said.