China international Huang Bowen will miss Saturday's Chinese Super Cup through injury as last season's Double winners Guangzhou Evergrande take on Jiangsu Suning in the opening game of the new Chinese season.
Huang was absent from Evergrande's 7-0 demolition of Hong Kong's Eastern in his club's first game of the 2017 Asian Champions League, and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari confirmed the 29-year-old remains sidelined.
"Huang Bowen is still unavailable due to injury, although Mei Fang has come back to training," Scolari said. "We will see if he will be able to play.
"Tomorrow will be a normal match, with both sides having the chance of winning the Super Cup. We will treat it in a normal way, with no pressure."
Guangzhou defeated Jiangsu in the same fixture last season but since then the club from Nanjing have appointed former FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-soo.
Like Scolari, Choi led his team to a winning start in the Asian Champions League during the week, although Jiangsu were made to work much harder to secure a late 1-0 victory over Jeju United thanks to a 90th-minute winner from former Chelsea midfielder Ramires.
"Rather than saying we are under huge pressure, I'd like to say we are going to enjoy this occasion and this opportunity to showing our ability to win a game," said Choi, whose club finished as runners-up to Guangzhou in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese FA Cup last year.
"We will face the strongest side in the CSL. In terms of football, they might be better than us, but we will show fighting spirit and mentality. We are targeting the title, which is the wish and hope of all the people from Suning. I hope we can inflict some agony on our opponent."
Choi lost in the final of the Asian Champions League to Guangzhou when he was coach of Seoul in 2013.
"I think it is my fate to meet Evergrande so many times in finals," Choi said. "I enjoy it very much, rather than seeing it as a burden. I hope my players can grow and mature through these big occasions. We have nothing to lose because we are the underdog anyway."
Doubts exist over whether Alex Teixeira will feature, with Choi keen to ensure the former Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder is ready for the start of the Chinese Super League next week, when his side face Shanghai Shenhua in their opening game on March 5.
"Regarding Teixeira, I am not sure if he can play or not," Choi said. "The CSL is about to kick off, we don't want to risk too much."