City braced for Vassell absence

Manchester City FC striker Darius Vassell will miss the first ten weeks of the season because of a knee injury sustained during Saturday's friendly against AC Milan.

Long absence
The 28-year-old limped off during the second half of the 1-0 win against Milan, leaving manager Mark Hughes light on striking options ahead of Thursday's UEFA Cup second qualifying round first leg at home to Danish outfit FC Midtjylland. Club-record signing Jô is on Olympic duty, Benjani Mwaruwari is sidelined with a thigh problem and Valeri Bojinov lacks match sharpness having missed the almost the entire 2007/08 campaign due to a knee ligament injury. Hughes confirmed the news on Wednesday, saying: "It's likely to be something like ten weeks that [Vassell] won't be available. He will be in a brace for something like six weeks, then another month to try to get back to match fitness."