Manuel Pellegrini is certain that Sergio Aguero will soon be back to his best for Manchester City, although he accepts that it may take a few games for that to happen.

The Argentine has been named in the squad for their FA Cup third-round replay with Blackburn Rovers tonight, having missed the last eight matches with a calf injury.

Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko have flourished in his absence, guiding the club to seven victories during that time, but Pellegrini knows that Aguero is a key man.

"You never know but I hope that he will come back the same way as before he was injured," Pellegrini told the press. "He was in a good moment and maybe he needs two or three games to return to that level but Sergio will do it.

"Negredo is doing very well and we have Edin Dzeko as well who is a very important striker for us. When Sergio was injured Edin started to play often and he scores a lot of goals for us.

"But Sergio will always be an important player for us, not only because of his goals but he gives us a lot of play during the match."

Negredo has now equalled Aguero's goal tally of 19 for the season, while Dzeko has moved on to 13.