Santa Cruz sidelined for City

Roque Santa Cruz will miss the chance to make his Manchester City debut at former club Blackburn as the Barclays Premier League season begins tomorrow.

The £17.5m Paraguay striker is recovering from a knee operation and is expected to be out until September. Another new forward recruit, £25m man Emmanuel Adebayor, will be assessed after returning from international duty this week with a slight groin injury.

Former Manchester United star Carlos Tevez is in contention to make his debut after overcoming a minor heel problem while Craig Bellamy (knee) should also be fit. Vincent Kompany (toe) will miss the start of the season while Michael Johnson (abdomen) is still at least two weeks away.

Provisional squad: Given, Zabaleta, Dunne, Toure, Ben Haim, Onuoha, Bridge, De Jong, Barry, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Weiss, Robinho, Adebayor, Bellamy, Tevez, Richards, Garrido, Etuhu, Vidal, McGivern, Petrov, Benjani, Taylor.