Tim Sherwood does not expect to have Jack Grealish and Carles Gil available for Aston Villa's clash with Manchester United on Friday.
The creative duo both missed Villa's opening-day win over Bournemouth last weekend, and they are not likely to be ready to feature against Louis van Gaal's team at Villa Park.
Grealish and Gil both flourished in the latter part of last season under Sherwood, but suffered hamstring and ankle injuries respectively during pre-season.
"Jack and Carles are still out injured," Sherwood told Villa's official website. "Once we get everyone fit and fighting for places, it gives us a lot of options to play different ways, which will be crucial.
"Jack and Carles are training. They have had a few training sessions, but we don't want to push them back too early because they've had soft tissue injuries.
"We don't want them to reoccur."
