Yaya Toure's Ivory Coast return on hold after heel injury

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure's international comeback has been delayed after he withdrew from the squad for this month's African Nations Cup qualifiers with a heel injury, Ivorian Football Federation officials said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

The 32-year-old Manchester City player suffered a recurrence of the injury in Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League derby defeat at home to Manchester United.

Toure has not played for his country since captaining the Ivorians to Nations Cup success in February last year, missing several qualifiers for the next continental finals in Gabon in 2017 and the start of the preliminaries for the 2018 World Cup.

He had requested a break but agreed to play again in Friday’s match against Sudan in Abidjan and the return game in Khartoum next Tuesday. Ivory Coast coach Michel Dussuyer said last week Toure had now set himself new targets, such as winning a second straight African title and playing at a fourth successive World Cup.

(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)