Adelaide United's key duo Kusini Yengi and Michael Jakobsen will be kept on ice as the team attempts to lock in an A-League Men's finals spot.
Yengi (hip) and Jakobsen (thigh) will miss Saturday night's home game against Brisbane Roar.
The fourth-placed Reds (37 points) can secure a finals berth with a win over the struggling Roar.
But with another home game to follow in the last round, United coach Carl Veart is taking a cautious approach regarding the comebacks of frontman Yengi and veteran defender Jakobsen.
"There's no point in rushing ... we have given them both an extra week to be ready," Veart told reporters on Friday,
"Tracking well, both of them ... hopefully we can give them some game time next week."
The return of Yengi and Jakobsen will be a fillip for the Reds, though Veart was more concerned with the immediate task than the longer term.
"We know we still need to pick up points to guarantee a finals spot so it's important that we have that focus," he said.
"We want to make sure we go into the finals, if we make it, with good form."
The Roar languish in 11th spot with just six wins this campaign but Veart has been warning his players of their danger.
"We will be very careful of the way that we approach this game," he said.
"They (Brisbane) play some excellent football.
"The only thing that they have struggled with a little bit this year is goal scoring.
"We're a little bit in the same boat and it's just about taking your chances when you're in control of games. And if you don't, you always give the opposition an opportunity."
Brisbane have scored 26 goals from 23 games with Adelaide netting 34 from 24.
