Soccer: Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy's knee injury will almost certainly rule him out for the rest of the season, the Premier League club said today.

The 29 year-old, who signed from West Ham United for an undisclosed fee in January, suffered a flare-up of an existing injury in the Uefa Cup first leg defeat to Hamburg SV on April 9th.

"Craig has got to have complete rest for two weeks then he comes back for strength work. Hopefully he might get the last couple of games, but the probability is that he won't," manager Mark Hughes told the club website (www.mcfc.co.uk).

The Welsh international has scored four goals in 11 appearances for City.