Manuel Pellegrini is convinced star striker Sergio Aguero will soon be fully firing for Manchester City.
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Aguero has produced two largely ineffectual performances for City since returning from a heel injury. But this is not surprising, with history suggesting it often takes the Argentinian a number of games to get back up to full speed following any lay-off.
Pellegrini is aware of this, and knows the rewards are worth waiting for from a player who scored five against Newcastle in a stunning win in October and plundered 31 goals from 42 games last season.
The City manager, whose side travel to Watford today looking for their first away win in seven, said: “As we know with Sergio, always when he comes back from an injury he needs three or four games to return to his normal performance.
“That’s why I never give him 90 minutes in a game. I think it’s better to play him for less minutes but with more intensity. “But I am sure in the second part of the season we are going to see the real Sergio without injuries.”
Sergio Aguero has only failed to score against 5 of the 28 #BPL clubs he has faced – Watford are 1 of them #WATMCI pic.twitter.com/ZcD9HjlLt7
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 1, 2016
Asked when Aguero might be ready to play a full game, Pellegrini said: “I hope on Saturday and he scores two or three goals.”
City’s other senior striker, Wilfried Bony, has struggled to impose himself in Aguero’s absences – which also include a spell out in autumn with a hamstring injury – and has been criticised by fans.
But the Ivorian, who has also been hampered by injuries and a bout of malaria since his £28million (Dh152m) move from Swansea last January, is determined to turn the situation around.
Bony said: “Obviously I’ve had problems with injuries and I was ill but this is football. For five years I haven’t been in this position but sometimes you can’t control what’s happening. I just try to do my best every game. My hopes for 2016 are to be fit for the whole season and to win a trophy for City.”
Bony has scored in four of his last seven appearances, and has eight for the campaign, but has also spurned a host of other chances. The 27-year-old said: “Scoring goals is most important for getting the confidence back. I know what I can do. Your first enemy is yourself so I just think about doing better and trying very hard to do my best.”
Watford defender Sebastian Prodl is confident of helping the Hornets survive, as he enjoys a positive return from injury.
Prodl played 30 minutes on his return to the Watford side on Monday following more than two months out with calf trouble, though he could not prevent a last-gasp 2-1 defeat to Tottenham.
Nevertheless, Watford are sitting pretty in the table, lying ninth. Their recent form comprises four wins out of six, and includes a win over Liverpool and a draw against Chelsea.
When asked if Watford could avoid the drop, Austrian Prodl told Kicker: “I assume so. If we continue like this, we can achieve this ominous mark of 40 points quickly. But we get out quite well, we have already collected some points and created a bonus. Thus, the stress is limited.”
