Vincent Kompany believes he now knows what he needs to do to avoid more soft tissue injuries.

The Manchester City captain has been sidelined for much of the past 12 or so months because of various leg problems, putting together just 16 Premier League appearances since last summer.

Kompany has often broken down after coming back too early and in a bid to dodge that occurring again, the 30-year-old says it is time to start heeding advice from City's medical team.

"My situation is very simple, "I've been out for six months," Kompany said ahead of Wednesday's EFL Cup fourth round clash with rivals Manchester United.

"I've had to make one commitment to the medical staff, which was that I'd be honest towards them with my feelings, and that I would listen to them when they made a decision.

"I told them how I felt the day before the game and they made the decision for me. I wanted to play, of course, that wasn't even in doubt, but I've just made this commitment to listen to them a little bit more.

"I know what I have to do to be back at my level.

"Motivation only keeps going up because I feel like I belong on the pitch and I deserve to have good moments because of how I've worked every single day to come back."