Vincent Kompany believes the knee injury suffered by Sergio Aguero will not hamper Manchester City's push to defend their Premier League crown.
"We lost Sergio, which was sort of a blow, but I just go back to when we lost Carlos [Tevez] for most of the season and coped well with that," Kompany said.Aguthat he had not sustained a "significant injury" following Sunday evening's clash against Southampton. However, while doubt remains over the Argentina international's recovery period, Kompany insists the club have the depth to cover the loss.
"I hope Sergio won't be out for that long [eight months] but I would point to last season where we had to cope with these kind of issues and we did it very well. If we have to, I'm sure we will again."
Tevez, who was AWOL for much of City's triumphant 2011-12 campaign, has returned to the club and scored in last weekend's season opener. According to Kompany, the responsibility of leading the attack now falls on the 28-year-old's shoulders.
"I don't want to speculate too much about Sergio because I don't know if he is going to be out for any length of time, but having Carlos at his best level is obviously a big bonus for us. He is one of the best strikers in the world.
"People talk about new signings, but to have Carlos back to his best means we are better than we were last season, so we have strengthened."