Manuel Pellegrini has denied New York City will be angry if Frank Lampard extends his loan beyond December. City are having “long conversations” with their sister club to resolve the situation.

The manager wants the midfielder to continue at the Etihad Stadium and the 36-year-old has indicated he wants to stay on longer He was signed as a leading player for NYC yet Pellegrini is adamant the MLS club will not have any problems if Lampard remains at City. Pellegrini said: “I hope Frank’s situation will be resolved in the next days. I said in the beginning it will be during December we are going to have the last decision. I repeat Frank is very important for our team so I hope he will stay here.”

Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Stoke City on Monday re-established their three-point lead over the champions. “We are not thinking about Chelsea, we are thinking about just our team,” Pellegrini said. “We know it is important to have our own pressure. You never win the title in December. We have a long five months to continue playing as well as we are doing so far, and we will see at the end of the season which team has most points.”

Of his injured players only Stevan Jovetic, who trained on Tuesday, and Vincent Kompany have a chance for the Boxing Day trip to West Bromwich Albion. “I am not a doctor so it is difficult for me to say. Maybe Jovetic and Kompany will be soon, the end of this week or next week. Edin Dzeko and Sergio Agüero will be the second part of January,” Pellegrini said.