Aston Villa will be without skipper Stiliyan Petrov and defender Habib Beye through suspension for the Barclays Premier League match with Bolton.
Petrov collected his fifth booking of the campaign during the midweek defeat at West Ham - a game in which Beye was also sent off.
Nigel Reo-Coker will be a strong candidate to replace Petrov after impressing as a substitute against his former club while right-back Carlos Cuellar will return after a one-game ban and is likely to take over from Beye.
Striker Emile Heskey (back), wide player James Milner (calf) and midfielder Craig Gardner (groin) are major doubts.
Bolton captain Kevin Davies believes Heskey will be a part of England's World Cup squad regardless of whether he stays with Villa or not.
"I think Fabio is a big fan of his," Davies said.
"He's been in there ahead of strikers who are playing better and scoring more goals but I think as a target man, Fabio fancies him and likes the way he plays.
"I think he will be on the plane regardless, but like any player, you have to fight for your spot in your side and I'm sure he is trying to do that."
Paul Robinson is set to deputise for the suspended Jlloyd Samuel in the Bolton defence.
Samuel was sent off in last week's 4-0 defeat against Chelsea after bringing down Didier Drogba.
Danny Shittu and Mustapha Riga are both doubts with hamstring problems, while Sean Davis and Joey O'Brien are long-term absentees with knee injuries.
Ex-Villa players Zat Knight and Gary Cahill will make up the centre-half pairing at Villa Park.
Both players were recruited by Gary Megson, who hopes they will feel they have a point to prove.
"I'm sure they will feel like that - being ex-Villa players they will want to go and put a show on," Megson said.
"In the past we've had ex-Villa players like Gavin McCann, Jlloyd Samuel and Gary Cahill who to be perfectly honest, have never done themselves justice when they have gone back to Villa Park.
"It will be nice if we can go there and the two lads perform in a way that I know they can."
