Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has admitted that Jack Rodwell's recurring hamstring injury is becoming a concern.

Rodwell, who was signed for £12m in the summer, suffered regular injuries at his previous club Everton.

He has not appeared for City since the beginning of October, making just six appearances this term, and Mancini is becoming increasingly worried.

"He's getting better and we hope we can maybe recover him in two or three weeks," said Mancini. "He needs to start work with the group but he didn't do that until [last] Thursday.

"I'm worried because when we bought him we thought that he was a good player and then he has these problems with his hamstrings.

"We hope we can improve this situation for him because he is young, he's got the quality, he's got everything to have a good career."

City's next game is against Arsenal at the weekend.