The England international has been suffering from a knee injury and would have missed last weekend's game against Wigan, which was postponed.
Neither he nor Luke Young (groin) have trained with the team this week so remain touch and go.
Steve Sidwell is out of the reckoning as he closes in on a move to West Ham but fellow midfielders Stiliyan Petrov and Fabian Delph are returning to fitness following ankle and knee injuries respectively.
Either could feature on the bench on Sunday.
Source: PA
Source: PA