MANCHESTER - Manchester City manager Mark Hughes wants Carlos Tevez to miss Argentina's friendly against Russia to make sure the striker is fit for the start of the Premier League campaign.

MANCHESTER - Manchester City manager Mark Hughes wants Carlos Tevez to miss Argentina's friendly against Russia to make sure the striker is fit for the start of the Premier League campaign.

Tevez has sat out the first month of City's pre-season programme after a heel injury and though he is due to return to training this week, he is not expected to feature in the friendly against Rangers at Ibrox today.

Argentina's doctor has been to City's Carrington training ground to check on Tevez's progress with coach Diego Maradona set to name his squad for the August 12 game in Moscow.

But Hughes wants Tevez, who joined City for £25million (R332million) in June, fit for the opening day game at Blackburn and fears a trip to Russia could set back the former United star's recovery.

"We don't think Carlos should play for his international team. We would prefer him to stay back next week," Hughes told City's website.

"The Argentina doctor will probably want to check how Carlos is now. Ideally, I'd prefer that he wasn't selected. He's not trained all pre-season.

"He had an injury from his last international, then banged the same area when he slipped in the shower." - Sapa-AFP