Maneul Pellegrini has backed his captain Vincent Kompany to prove his critics wrong after Belgian’s latest errors at the Ethiad.

Manuel Pellegrini has backed his captain Vincent Kompany to prove his critics wrong after the Belgian’s latest errors at the Etihad.

“Vincent is an experienced player with a strong character. He must receive the criticism that everyone receives when our team doesn’t have the performance that everyone hopes for.

“I think it’s not a problem for him, I am sure that he will have a strong reaction.”

Asked if Kompany could still be regarded as one of Europe’s best defenders, Pellegrini said: “I think he is a great player.”

The City boss added that he would keep his own thoughts about the individual performances of his players in-house and said: “I don’t defend the performance of the team – not just Kompany.

“We played moments of the (Champions League) game, the first 25 minutes and all the second half, without any problem.

“But I think the parts of the game that decided the score were because of poor performance from me and from the team – everyone, not just individuals or the skills of just one player.