Kompany strong enough to cope with injury woe - Pellegrini

(Reuters) - Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is too mentally tough to allow his injury problems to drag him down, manager Manuel Pellegrini said ahead of the defender's likely return in Tuesday's Premier League clash against Newcastle United.

The Belgium international has not played since March 15 after suffering a recurrence of a calf injury he has been struggling with for most of the season, the latest in a long line of problems since he joined from Hamburg in 2008.

"He is a very strong player mentally so seeing him working... I think he is without any problems and he is working 100 percent with normality," Pellegrini told reporters on Monday.

"So I don't think he has any mind problems and I hope that we will see him returning to his best performances."

Pellegrini said he had no fears about the influential Kompany being able to handle a heavy workload ahead of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid later this month.

"I think he's able to play two games a week... Maybe he must review a lot of things, as other players do, to try to have less injuries," the 62-year-old Chilean said.

"But when he's fit I think he can play two or three games a week without a problem."

City striker Sergio Aguero has also struggled with injuries this term but has still managed 21 league goals, including a hat-trick against Chelsea on Saturday.

Pellegrini backed the Argentine to overhaul Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane (24) and Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (22) in the race for the golden boot, despite playing 900 minutes less than pair.

"I think he is just behind Kane and Vardy so he is fighting to be the top scorer this year also," Pellegrini said.

"I am sure it will be difficult for the other strikers to keep up with his performances."

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru. Editing by Patrick Johnston)