Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan hopeful knee injury will only keep him out of action for a week as he targets return for Chelsea match

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Ilkay Gundogan hopes his latest knee injury only sets him back a week and he wants to be available for Manchester City's trip to Chelsea.

The central midfielder came off during Wednesday's EFL Cup victory over West Brom as a result of Claudio Yacob's mistimed tackle after 55 minutes.

It was Gundogan's first start following a nine-month recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury, sparking fears he could face another lengthy spell out.

Ilkay Gundogan is aiming to be fit again before the end of the month after another injury issue

Gundogan suffered a knee problem which forced him out of the win over West Brom

Gundogan - who underwent tests at the City Football Academy on Thursday - had spent most of this year nursing his right knee back to health and Yacob's challenge hurt his left instead.

Sportsmail understands the Germany international believes he could be back before the end of this month.

The clash with last season's Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge could yet be deemed too soon for Gundogan but he remains confident the knock will not keep him out for long.

'I suffered for Gundogan, when he was on the grass, in that moment,' Pep Guardiola said. 'You cannot imagine what it's like for months, every day alone or just with the physio not in the locker room.

'In that moment it was so tough but of course that's football. He was OK, he had a little bit of pain in his knee.'

He had only just returned from a lengthy spell out with a cruciate ligament problem