David Wetherall may fly to Denmark for further treatment on his injured hip after breaking down in his comeback game.
The City skipper played only 42 minutes for the reserves against Aston Villa at Odsal last night before hobbling off.
Wetherall, making his first appearance since the opening day of the season, had hoped to be back in the reckoning for Saturday's home clash with Burnley.
But those hopes went out the window when he limped to the sidelines with a recurrence of his hip trouble.
Physio Steve Redmond said: "It's nothing major but this is a niggling problem that just refuses to go away.
"It's not related to the groin injury he has had in the past. He has had various scans, tests and biomechanical studies and we thought this had gone, unfortunately it clearly hasn't.
"It is very frustrating for David because this is only something minor. It just doesn't want to clear up."
Wetherall visited an orthopaedic surgeon in Copenhagen a year ago when he began his convalescence from major groin surgery. It is likely he will be heading to Denmark again to see if they can clear up this new problem.
Redmond added: "They know his biomechanism over there from before."
Wetherall seemed to pick up the injury in the build-up to the second of Villa's goals in their 3-0 win. He stretched to make a tackle and was clearly in pain as John McGrath fired in the loose ball.
Wetherall's injury overshadowed a lively reserve game in which debutant Paul Reid, Danny Forrest, Andy Lee and Juanjo had all gone close during the first half.
Villa scored early on through Stephen Cooke while Moroccan international Moustapha Hadji hit the bar before McGrath doubled the lead.
The second half was dominated by the visitors, who sealed the victory through Michael Husbands after 64 minutes.
City Reserves: Banks, Jorgensen, Morgan, Wetherall, Jacobs, Reid, Standing, Fishlock, Forrest, Lee, Juanjo. Subs: Penford, Francis, Flynn, Brodie, Bentham.
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