Former Manchester United defender John O'Shea has suffered an injury setback at Sunderland.
O'Shea is making slow progress from a hamstring injury and boss Steve Bruce is unlikely to risk the Republic of Ireland defender when the Wearsiders open their campaign at Liverpool on August 13.
Sunderland assistant boss Eric Black said: "O'Shea's still feeling his hamstring and it's hard to put a date on his return.
"It's too soon to say whether it's going to be two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. It's hard to tell, but he's definitely progressing."
