Owen Hargreaves has been denied the chance to take his next step on the comeback trail after injury ruled him out of Manchester City's Carling Cup fourth-round tie at Wolves on Wednesday night.
Hargreaves's only start since joining City from neighbours Manchester United in September came in the last round of the competition, when a stunning goal against Birmingham silenced those who doubted he would play at the highest level again following a succession of injuries.
New blow: Owen Hargreaves ruled out after suffering an injury
The former England midfielder was pencilled in to start at Molineux but City said he will miss the game with a calf problem.
The club were at pains to point out it is a minor injury unrelated to the serious knee condition that restricted Hargreaves to 39 games in four years at Old Trafford, and he is expected to train again on Wednesday.
First-team coach David Platt said: 'There is no worry about it. He has got a little niggle that because it is Owen Hargreaves we are talking about it.
'It is nothing much, it is just a kick in the calf. We have had it scanned and there is no pull or anything.
'He has not broken down. If he had broken down we would be talking about him being out for three or four weeks but that is not the case.'
Platt added: 'He is there or thereabouts but the fact of the matter is he hasn't trained for three or four days.
'To go in and do one light training session and then go into it, you wouldn't do with any player. That has nothing to do with whether it is Owen or not.
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The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |