Stuart Holden has been ruled out for six months after damaging knee ligaments in the defeat by Manchester United last time out, while Mark Davies is a major doubt as he continues to battle an ankle injury.

That means Tamir Cohen could make his first Premier League start of the season, with England Under-21 international Fabrice Muamba also in contention.

Zat Knight (knee) is back in training but not yet ready for a return, while Sean Davis (knee) and Sam Ricketts (Achilles) are both long-term absentees.

Provisional squad: Jaaskelainen, Robinson, Cahill, Wheater, Muamba, Petrov, K Davies, Elmander, Klasnic, Taylor, Alonso, Rodrigo, Cohen, Steinsson, Blake, Lee, Bogdan, Sturridge.