Joe Hart sidelined for Manchester City's clash with Southampton
Manchester City are without goalkeeper Joe Hart (hamstring) for Saturday's visit of Southampton in the Barclays Premier League.
The England number one is likely to be out for around 10 days meaning Willy Caballero will deputise and former England international Richard Wright, 38, will come onto the bench nine years after his last top-flight appearance.
Playmaker David Silva (ankle) is fit after nine games out and striker Wilfried Bony (hamstring) is also available but captain Vincent Kompany (calf), fellow defenders Pablo Zabaleta (knee) and Eliaquim Mangala (hamstring), and forward Samir Nasri (leg) are out.
But the return of Silva provides a big lift after a nine-game absence with an ankle problem while the availability of Bony increases attacking options at a time when Sergio Aguero still lacks match-sharpness.
Pellegrini said: "David is a very important player, the same as Kun - one of the players that is very difficult to replace. I hope both of them can recover."
With a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa earlier this month, City have actually gone three games without a win but Pellegrini is not overly concerned about form yet.
He said: "Maybe one defeat in this club is a crisis for this club, in the media. Of course you worry when you don't win two games in a row but if you take an overall view I think we are having a very good season."
Southampton are likely to provide another strong test having not yet lost away from home in the Premier :League this season.
Pellegrini said: "In Premier League you never know which team will win against the other. You see Liverpool come here and beat us but Crystal Palace went to Liverpool and beat them, and after that Sunderland beat Crystal Palace.
"Southampton are having a good season. They have good players and we need to play in a high performance if we want to win."
The absence of Hart means third-choice Richard Wright, the 38-year-old former England international, will be on the City bench. He last played in the top flight for Everton nine years ago and has not played a competitive game at any level since appearing for Ipswich in 2011.
Ronald Koeman has backed Shane Long to spearhead Southampton's attack at Manchester City in the absence of suspended top-scorer Graziano Pelle.
Boss Koeman believes Long can lead Saints' line in Saturday's Premier League trip to the Etihad Stadium, with 14-goal Pelle banned after picking up five bookings this term.
Long returned to club action after ankle trouble and helping the Republic of Ireland qualify for Euro 2016 for the 1-0 home loss to Stoke, deployed in behind lone striker Pelle.
This weekend though the 28-year-old should have his chance to stake a claim for a central role moving forward.
"You'll always miss a player that regularly starts," said Koeman of Pelle's absence.
"But we can certainly cope, if we couldn't I would be doing something wrong, because we're only talking about one player in the squad.
"Shane's a different player, with different qualities but also a very dangerous front player.
"He was a long time injured, he played 90 minutes last weekend and he will start again.
"Our style will be the same, that we try to play football, to build up from the back, but of course in direct play it needs to be changed a little bit."
Long stepped into the breach in Pelle's absence in Southampton's creditable 1-1 draw at Chelsea in March last season.
Koeman believes former England captain John Terry's post-match endorsement that day underscores Long's qualities, that he hopes will shine through again on the road this weekend.
"Graziano's the top-scorer in the team, but last season we played without him at Chelsea away and had a good result," said Koeman.
"I still remember what John Terry said after the game that 'we found it so tough to play against Shane Long'.
"So hopefully we can see the same again now."
Manchester City have not lost two successive home league games in seven years, but enter Saturday's clash off the back of their 4-1 Etihad Premier League loss to Liverpool.
City's 1-0 midweek Champions League loss at Juventus, coupled with an injury spate, leaves the hosts desperate to claw back some form - but by no means panicking, according to Koeman.
"Teams like City are used to having that pressure about winning games," said Koeman.
"Even for City it's difficult handle the number of injuries they have now."
Source: PAR
