Roberto Mancini has confirmed Sergio Agüero should be out for less than a month due to the knee injury he sustained in Manchester City's win over Southampton on Sunday. The manager is hopeful the striker will be back for City's game with Stoke at the Etihad Stadium on 15 September.

"I don't think Sergio will be out for long and we are hoping he will be back after the international break, which is fantastic news for him and for us," said Mancini. "We were worried a couple of days ago because we feared he could be out for six months or maybe even more which would have been very bad news

" It looked like a verystrange injury and because it was his knee, we were obviously very concerned so this news is a relief for everybody."

On Tuesday, Agüero tweeted: "Thank you all for your concern. I'm better but still resting with an ice pack on the swollen area. And very eager to start recovery physio tomorrow! I'll keep you posted. All the best!"

Agüero will still definitely miss Sunday's game at Liverpool and the visit of Queens Park Rangers the following Saturday.

Mancini was also encouraged by the progress of Gareth Barry, who has an abdominal muscle problem and trained on Wednesday, and Micah Richards, who has an ankle problem.

"Gareth will also be ready after the international break," said the Italian. "He hasn't played any games for almost four months and he needs to build his fitness up, but he is training again and I don't see him being out for any longer than one month and hopefully, maybe just a couple of weeks.

"Micah's injury is more serious and he could be out a little longer, but having said that, with rest and the right treatment, we are hopeful he could be ready in about one month, which again would be great news."

City will be looking to press their advantage over Manchester United, who lost their opening game, 1-0 at Everton, on Monday evening.