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MANCHESTER -- Manuel Pellegrini said he is optimistic David Silva did not suffer a season-ending injury in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over West Brom.
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The Spanish playmaker was stretchered off in the second half after falling awkwardly in a challenge with Morgan Amalfitano, prompting fears he will miss the remainder of City’s campaign and the World Cup.
City’s medical staff will assess the 28-year-old on Tuesday but Pellegrini wants to see the midfielder back soon.
“Hopefully it will be a short term injury,” he said in a news conference. “It is hard to tell without the doctors giving their assessment.
Pellegrini confirmed it was a recurrence of a long-standing ankle problem that forced Silva to miss Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Sunderland, which came only three days after the 3-2 defeat to Liverpool.
“David played the last games with pain in his ankle,” Pellegrini said. “That is why it was impossible for him to play against Sunderland because after three days he can’t recover from his problem. We will see tomorrow [Wednesday] what happens with him. His injury started with a kick some weeks ago and every week he plays in the last game with pain.”
Silva has scored 20 goals in 78 games for Spain, winning the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012 and is expected to be a member of Vicente del Bosque’s squad for the summer tournament in Brazil.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich Albion manager Pepe Mel believes his left-back Liam Ridgewell will be ruled out for the remainder of their relegation battle.
“We have the feeling he may go on to miss the rest of the season,” he said. “We have tests tomorrow but we have the feeling he might not be able to play. He twisted his ankle and it is an unstable state.”