Kompany: I’m listening to the Manchester City medical team more

Vincent Kompany made it through his comeback unscathed last weekend, and Manchester City’s captain admits he has struck a bargain with the club’s medical staff to avoid any more long-term injuries.

The 30-year-old Belgian international has been plagued over the past couple of seasons – requiring surgery on his groin and thigh after limping out of the Champions League semi-final second-leg defeat to Real Madrid back in May.

His first comeback this term ended with a recurrence of that problem in the EFL Cup against Swansea.

But after coming off with 70 minutes played against Southampton on Sunday, Kompany concedes he has to compromise with the physio team at the Etihad Stadium.

“My situation is very simple. I think you can make a mistake to over-analyse things. I’ve been out for six months,” he said.

“I’ve had to make one commitment to the medical staff, which was that I’d be honest towards them with my feelings, and that I would listen to them when they made a decision.

“I told them how I felt the day before the game and they made the decision for me. I wanted to play, of course, that wasn’t even in doubt, but I’ve just made this commitment to listen to them a little bit more.

“Maybe another day I would never have gone off after 70 minutes like I did [against Southampton], but it’s part of the bargain, let’s put it that way, and it’s for the best.

“I think I thrive on the challenge. God knows what would have happened if I’d never had those injuries but I need to get something that makes me stronger out of it, something different from other players, and that’s what I believe in.

“Okay, that’s been my reality for the last few years now, but motivation only keeps going up, because I feel like I belong on the pitch and I deserve to have good moments because of how I’ve worked every single day to come back. But I trust myself, incredibly.”