Manchester City duo Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland look set to miss the Republic of Ireland's friendly with Holland in Dublin on Wednesday.
The pair sat out City's final pre-season outing against Porto at Eastlands yesterday and Blues boss Stuart Pearce is anxious to wrap both players in cotton wool ahead of a tough Premiership opener at champions Chelsea next Sunday.
"Richard is definitely struggling for Wednesday with a hamstring strain and Stevie Ireland is doubtful too," Pearce told www.mcfc.co.uk "We just have to take care of them because they have muscle strains and you can't hurry those."
Meanwhile, Pearce, who is expected to tie up the loose ends of Andreas Isaksson's move from Rennes as a replacement for Portsmouth-bound David James tomorrow, also revealed City are monitoring the fitness of veteran midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who is yet to recover from the foot injury he picked up on the recent tour of China.
"A scan has picked up something," said Pearce. "It might be an old fracture or a new one but the symptoms suggest it's an old one, so we'll keep monitoring that."
