Newcastle defender sorry for Nasri tackle

Newcastle defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has expressed his regret for the tackle that has left Samir Nasri facing a long spell out of action.

Playmaker Nasri is expected to be sidelined for around eight weeks following the challenge by Yanga-Mbiwa in Sunday’s Premier League win for City at St James’ Park.

The City man had to be carried off on a stretcher after being caught by a bad tackle from Yanga-Mbiwa, who was booked.

“I didn’t intend to injure him. There was no malice. Unfortunately there is this consequence,” Yanga-Mbiwa said.

There were initial fears that Nasri could be facing a longer stretch on the sidelines, a worrying scenario for the France player in a World Cup year.

“When I heard that, I was relieved,” Yanga-Mbiwa said of the shorter timetable for Nasri’s recovery.

“I was really troubled by what happened. He’s a player who is in the France team and I know what that represents.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is poised to return to action in his side’s FA Cup third-round replay against Blackburn tonight (kick-off 8:10pm).

Aguero, who has scored 19 goals this season, has missed eight games after suffering a calf injury in the 6-3 thrashing of Arsenal on December 14.

City boss Manuel Pellegrini has not yet decided if Aguero will feature as Blackburn visit the Etihad Stadium, but the Argentinian is in contention.

Pellegrini said: “Sergio is working with normality with the whole squad and he is on the squad list for tomorrow. He is a very important player for us. It doesn’t matter if we are scoring a lot of goals, Sergio will always be a very important player and we are happy he is coming back.”