Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson fears star man Elano could be missing for four weeks with a hamstring injury.
The Swede said: "The best we can hope for is that he will just miss Saturday's game.
"But at worst it could be three to four weeks.
"It's a pity of course. We know very well what Elano means to us in the last third of the pitch.
"He and Martin Petrov are involved in most of the goals we are scoring. But we have to show we can play without Elano."
