Manchester City’s defender, Pablo Zabaleta has been ruled out for a month as a result of a knee ligament injury he sustained in training.

Manuel Pellegrini confirmed that the player suffered a knee ligament issue in training this week.

He said: “Pablo Zabaleta had yesterday a problem in his knee. I think he will be out for around a month. “Fabian Delph returned this week on Wednesday to work with the whole squad so he doesn’t have have any problem,” he added.

The right-back is set to miss fixtures against Everton, Watford, Palace and West Ham as well as the opening round of Champions League fixtures. Bacary Sagna has impressed this season and should now get more opportunities to stake a claim for regular first-team football.