Aston Villa are set to hand a debut to right-back Luke Young against Manchester City at Villa Park on Sunday.
Young, who joined Villa from Middlesbrough, was ineligible for Thursday night's UEFA Cup qualifier against FH Hafnarfjordur.
Striker John Carew missed the game in Iceland with a slight calf strain but should be fit to face City.
Central defender Carlos Cuellar, who joined Villa from Rangers earlier this week in a £7.8million deal, has a calf problem and is unlikely to be fit for another week.
Villa also have an injury doubt around midfielder Steve Sidwell, their £5million summer signing from Chelsea.
Sidwell damaged his calf in training earlier this month and will need a late fitness test before manager Martin O'Neill finalises his team.
City manager Mark Hughes will be without skipper Richard Dunne through suspension.
The Republic of Ireland international was sent off in City's final game of last season at Middlesbrough and will be forced to sit out the first game of the new campaign.
Hughes may be tempted to shake up his side for the match at Villa Park after the shock UEFA Cup first-leg defeat by FC Midtjylland.
Bulgaria striker Valeri Bojinov is pushing for a place in the starting line-up after his recovery from a long-term knee injury.
City are short of options in attack as Benjani Mwaruwari and Darius Vassell are injured while Jo is part of Brazil's Olympic squad.
Teams
Aston Villa (from): Friedel, L Young, Laursen, Knight, Davies, Shorey, A Young, Routledge, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Barry, Maloney, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Gardner, Salifou, Osbourne, Delfouneso, Baker, Taylor.
Manchester City (from): Hart, Corluka, Onuoha, Richards, Ben Haim, Ball, Garrido, Fernandes, Hamann, Ireland, Johnson, Etuhu, Elano, Bianchi, Bojinov, Evans, Sturridge, Castillo, Schmeichel, Caicedo.