Manuel Pellegrini believes Sergio Aguero missed the PFA Premier League Team of the Year because he was injured while on international duty.

The Manchester City striker was overlooked for the 2015/16 XI on Thursday despite scoring 22 goals in 27 league appearances this season.

It is the fifth year in a row that Aguero has missed the end-of-season selection and after admitting he has not been able to work out why in the past, Pellegrini feels an injury sustained while playing for Argentina in October denied him the chance to get the nod over fellow strikers Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy.

"One of the most important things for Kun is to try to play the whole season," he said.

"I think this season he made a mistake to play for his national squad when he had some muscle problems in the last game here.

"Playing for Argentina, he had some muscle injury that meant he couldn't play for around five or six weeks.

"In the second round - he's playing every game, if you are 100 percent fit and playing every week - of course his performance is better."