Jamie Paterson and Joe Allen are continuing to be carefully managed as Swansea City prepare for their third match in eight days against Sunderland.
Paterson has not featured since the home defeat against Sheffield United almost a month ago while Allen has been nursing the hamstring issue he picked up in the 3-0 triumph against Hull City before the international break.
Allen will be considered for a place in the matchday squad for the Swans' clash with the Black Cats on Saturday afternoon, although Russell Martin admits it is more likely that the Wales star won't return until the contest at Burnley next week while Paterson remains out of action.
"With Joe, we just have to be careful really," said the head coach. "We all want him back as quickly as possible. He’s trained, but training and doing parts of training are very different to playing.
"The games we’ve had, you have to take those into account. West Brom and Watford away, probably two of the most athletic teams in the league.
"We have to pick the right moment with Joe. We’ll assess him again today and see where we’re at. He’ll be a huge part of the conversation. It’s probably more likely that we’re looking towards next week."
And on Paterson, Martin commented: "He’s at quite a late stage now in his rehab. He’s getting there. He’s been really frustrated that he hasn’t been able to deliver the best version of himself on the pitch yet.
"Fair play, he tried to battle through it. We’ve seen everyone and anyone about it to try and help him. He’s had to have a couple of weeks out which has been really frustrating for him. But I think we’re close to getting rid of it and him being able to move on. It’s a bit of short-term pain with Pato, him being out of the squad."
The Swans go into the contest with Tony Mowbray's men on the back of three successive wins. Their improved run of results has seen them climb into the top six of the Championship.
As for Sunderland, they are unbeaten in four fixtures, although they have drawn their last three games. And as his side bid to win three matches in a week for only the second time in his tenure, Martin admits his players must replicate the energy they showed in the away wins over West Brom and Watford if they are to claim three points once more at the Swansea.com Stadium.
"We’ve watched quite a bit of them and really like it. Lots of really good footballers," said Martin.
"I think the best thing about them is they’ve kept the momentum they had from League One and they’ve come into the Championship with no fear at all which is really refreshing. Tony's [Mowbray] gone in there as manager, and he’s obviously tweaked a few bits, but they still play with the same intensity.
"A guy I played with, Alex Pritchard, on his day can be a really top performer. They have a good togetherness. When you achieve what they did it builds a certain spirit, they’ve got that in abundance. It’s not an easy game at all. The easiest trap to fall into after the last two games is that we think we’re going to win. Football doesn’t work like that.
"They’re bringing 2,000 fans. Our fans played a huge part on Saturday and Wednesday night. My brothers were in the crowd and absolutely loved it. I hope we get a lot through the door. Our guys are going to need some energy as well after two tough away games.
"I think it’s going to be a brilliant atmosphere. If we play with the same level of honesty and intensity that the guys have had for a while now, we back ourselves to get a result."
Kick-off in Swansea is at 3pm on Saturday.
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