Man City's David Silva could be back after international break

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini hopes to have David Silva back in his plans after the international break.

Silva has missed City's last six games with an ankle problem, having been injured while playing for Spain against Luxembourg last month.

He has been left out of Spain's squad for the friendlies with England and Belgium and Pellegrini hopes the break from travelling will speed up his return to full fitness after a comeback last week ended prematurely. 

City's next game after the international break is at home to Liverpool on November 21. Before that they face Aston Villa on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1.

Pellegrini said: "He is working on his ankle. It's not 100 per cent fit. He tried to play a small side game last week but he couldn't. I hope in these 15 days he will be okay.

"It was necessary because David cannot play. The medical team of Spain know this, they have communication.

"We hope they can recover after this international break and that we don't have any more injuries because we have a busy period after the international break and we need the whole squad.

"We are not making real rotation, maybe we are changing one player because we don't have any others to change. I hope now we can do rotation because we have a lot of difficult games."

Silva will therefore be watching from the sidelines when City travel to Villa Park in their last game before the break, with Fabian Delph hoping to be part of Pellegrini's starting line-up.

Delph has not featured for City since the end of August after injuring his hamstring on England duty, but he is keen to face the side who sold him over the summer for £8m.

And Pellegrini admits it is tough to leave him out given his motivation to impress against his former employers.

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"Maybe it's the same what happened with Jesus Navas when we played against Sevilla," Pellegrini added. 

"Fabian played all his career for Villa, but he is a professional player now he is playing for us. I know that he wants to play because he had so many injuries. It will be a special game but nothing more.

"I think it's good for Fabian to play for England because he has been working normally with the squad and he played some minutes in the Champions league and he might get some minutes against Aston Villa, so it's good for him to get some minutes also for the national team."

Villa will have Remi Garde in charge for the first time, and Pellegrini wants full focus from his players as he looks to avoid what would be one of the biggest shocks of the season so far.

"The way I think is that there are no easy games in the Premier League, especially against Aston Villa with a new manager so the motivation not be relegated will be high," he said.

"We have to repeat what we did against Sevilla, not to think because we played well in the last game we are going to play exactly in the same way. We can do it if we are concentrated and if we understand it will be a tough game.

"Always with a new manager there is a reaction with the players."