Manchester City will be without captain Steph Houghton for their Women's Champions League quarter-final, first leg away to Barcelona on Wednesday because of an Achilles tendon injury.
"It is one we anticipated would have settled down by now. It's not settled down as quickly as we would have liked, or certainly what Steph would have liked," City boss Gareth Taylor said. "She is obviously really disappointed."
Houghton picked up the injury at the start of March in the 3-0 win over Fiorentina.
While her absence is a blow for City, Taylor said they had sufficient squad depth to cope, with United States defender Abby Dahlkemper expected to feature.
"Obviously, we would love to have the skipper there but we got by without her previously against Fiorentina (in the second leg)," he said. "Abby's a big-game player. She's played in big games. I'm sure it's one that she'll cope with no problem."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)
