The Belgians had to bounce back from opening Group A defeats by Turkey and Germany without their inspirational centre-half, whose early-season form saw him sweep September’s Etihad Player of the Month award.
Now Vinny will step back into defence for tomorrow night’s home game against Austria, with young City team-mate Dedryck Boyata also hoping for some involvement to celebrate his promotion from Under-21s to senior squad.
Centre-back is Kompany’s traditional position for Belgium, and while he announced his arrival at City with a string of admirable midfield performances, he is adamant there is no yearning for a move back upfield in blue.
He insisted: “It’s a myth that I prefer central midfield - I’ve always said that both positions are my position.
I enjoy both positions, it’s just that people were talking about me at City because I was performing as a midfielder
“I am really happy to play as a centre-half. But being able to play in both positions is a strength that I have, and I don’t want to lose that. Either way, I want to perform at the top week in, week out.”
City team-mate David Silva will be hoping to continue Friday night’s goalscoring form - he starred in the 3-1 win over Lithuania - for Spain against Scotland, while Greg Cunningham will hope to figure for Ireland in Slovakia.
