Manuel Pellegrini has ruled out the possibility of Yaya Toure featuring against Stoke City on Wednesday despite knowing his side are in desperate need of the Ivory Coast ace.
Toure and new City striker Wilfried Bony have just helped Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations.
‘We don’t want both of them to come back so quickly because it is impossible for them to play on Wednesday (against Stoke),' said Pellegrini.
'After that we have 10 days without a game so they have time to come back.’
Manchester City have lost an incredible amount of ground on league leaders Chelsea as Pellegrini's side have struggled to collect maximum points when the Ivorian powerhouse is unavailable for selection.
In fact, Manchester City have not won a Barclays Premier League match without Toure since their 3-1 victory against West Brom in March 2014.
City have managed to claim important Champions League wins against Bayern Munich and Roma without Toure, but their talisman seems to be an integral component when it comes to competing in the Premier League.
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