Manchester City's top scorer Alvaro Negredo and playmaker David Silva will miss this weekend's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Watford at the Etihad Stadium.
Negredo suffered a shoulder injury when he landed awkwardly after a tackle in the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at West Ham in midweek.
Silva did not feature at Upton Park and will again not be risked due to a minor hamstring issue.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini said: "Alvaro is not ready for Saturday.
"We will see in the next days how his shoulder reacts from the work he is doing. Maybe in a week he will be okay.
"David Silva has some problems. He is not 100 per cent fit. It is just a precaution, we will not take any risks because he still has some pain in his hamstring."
Pellegrini is planning to make a number of changes for the visit of the Sky Bet Championship side.
City are back in action again next Wednesday as they visit Tottenham in the Barclays Premier League while they have a big encounter against title rivals Chelsea looming on February 3.
Pellegrini said: "We will see on Saturday how the 11 changes.
"We are going to make some changes. We have a lot of games during January.
"It is a very busy month and we will continue making rotations."
In terms of squad strengthening this month, Pellegrini has consistently played down suggestions City could make a move in the transfer window.
He maintains City do have that option but again, as he spoke at a press conference to preview the Watford game, he gave little away.
The Chilean said: "If we talk about all the offers this club made we have at least eight goalkeepers, five centre-backs, nine forwards. No news for the moment."
It was a similar answer when asked about Joleon Lescott, the England centre-back who has been linked with a move to West Ham.
"Exactly the same - no news," Pellegrini said.
Source: PA
