The Chilean confirmed that Vincent Kompany is ready to return to the team after coming through a behind-closed-doors friendly against City EDS but Fabian Delph has been ruled out for 6-7 weeks with an achilles injury.
Bacary Sagna is another addition to a lengthy injury list for this crucial encounter.
“It’s a long injury list - Sagna, Mangala, Delph, Nasri, Navas, De Bruyne and Bony are out. David Silva is OK,” Pellegrini reported.
“We’ll see what the starting XI is tomorrow - we’re not just thinking about one player and one game, we’re involved in a lot of competitions. Maybe we have a lot of criticism when we don’t play well but I’m happy with the squad over the whole season.
“You’ve seen Kompany play for so many years I don’t have to say what qualities he brings, he’s one of the best defenders in the league.
“Every player must play a game when they’re 100%. Vincent has worked for three weeks with no problems. He played 45 minutes in a friendly game against the under-21s and I think he’s ready to play.
“Bacary had last week a problem in his knee - some liquid in his knee. He needs an injection and one week at least to return to work.
“Delph is worse as he has a problem with his achilles tendon. He needs six or seven weeks to recover.
“It’s difficult with so many injuries in the same position. Unfortunately, that’s part of the season and we must try to manage with the players we have.”
Pellegrini also revealed that it was pleasing to have the opportunity to work for a whole week with the squad in a rare match-less midweek.
He went on to declare Spurs as genuine title contenders and praised the work Mauricio Pochettino has undertaken at White Hart Lane.
Pellegrini stated: “Like I said last week, it’s not a decisive game but a very important game - after we play for another 36 points. For our team, it’s important to try to return to the top of the table. Two or three teams are in front of us in this moment so we must try to reclaim the points.
“Maybe it was an unexpected defeat against Leicester. The last 11 games we lost just one before that against Everton in the first leg of a cup match we went on to win. We were in a good moment but now we must play well against Spurs.
“Spurs a good team, they are involved in the title with 13 games to go.”
Finally, Manuel had his say on the hot topic of the week: ticket prices in the Premier League.
This followed the staged walk-out from supporters at Liverpool’s game against Sunderland last weekend.
He added: “One very important thing for the Premier League is to be concerned with their fans. We play so many games and there’s always full capacity. It’s very dangerous to have high prices. It’s an important thing for the clubs to have a normal price so fans keep coming to the stadium.”
