Hughes' left-side woe

Martin Petrov will be out or up to four months after undergoing on operation to clear up his month-old knee problem.

The former Atletico Madrid winger damaged his meniscus while on international duty with Bulgaria in October and City had hoped to get him back to fitness with a strengthening programme.

But the club have now confirmed that Petrov has gone under the knife in an effort to correct the problem and is expected to be sidelined until March.

A club statement read: "Martin Petrov has had surgery on his left knee and will be out for the next three to four months, it has been confirmed.

"Martin is recovering well but it looks as though he will now be out of the reckoning for the next three to four months."

Mark Hughes' side have won only one of their six league games without Petrov, leaving the manager to ponder a plunge into the transfer market for a solution to his left-sided problem.