Zabaleta ruled out

Bad news for Pablo Zabaleta, who will miss out on an opportunity to make his debut (and press his claims for a World Cup spot should Argentina qualify) due to a hamstring injury suffered at Aston Villa:

It is not a major injury, but I am not likely to be able to play. Sometimes, it is down to luck, I usually don't have these problems, but it is frustrating for me. There is nothing I can do.'

Even worse however is that due to FIFA rules, he has to be assessed by the national team, meaning a ludicrous situation where he has made lengthy round-trip which no doubt involved the briefest of stays in his home country:

City have not complained about the FIFA rule, but Hughes did say, as his players prepared to depart for various parts of the globe: "Everybody these days has to turn up. Pablo has to fly to Argentina but he will probably be on the first flight back."

Ironically, the injury comes after a situation where the AFA requested both Zabaleta and Carlos Tevez be rested from the Aston Villa game ahead of the international fixtures.