Manchester City boss Mark Hughes hopes to have big-name duo Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor back for his club's Barclays Premier League match against Burnley.
Although the Blues have edged into the top four, a run of four consecutive draws has stopped them making a concerted charge towards the top of the table.
"Adebayor and Toure haven't trained a great deal in the last two or three weeks, so they need a good week of training - and I hope they will be an option next weekend," said Hughes.
Hughes is desperate for a return to winning ways to stop his side falling further adrift of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal - and end up merely scrapping for fourth spot along with Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham.
Having Toure and Adebayor back at Eastlands on Saturday would be a major boost.
Meanwhile, City have been dealt a blow by confirmation that promising midfielder David Ball is out for six weeks with a broken metatarsal.
Ball was on the bench for September's astonishing Manchester derby at Old Trafford, but his setback means he will miss the trip to Abu Dhabi next week to face the United Arab Emirates.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
