SCOTT Banks is likely to miss the Rochdale game as City try to get to the bottom of his calf injury.

The Crystal Palace winger was a late substitute against Carlisle on Boxing Day but has sat out the last two home wins.

And Mark Hughes is not optimistic that he will have recovered in time to be involved on Tuesday.

He said: “Scott is still troubled by this calf situation. He’s gone for a scan to make sure we can rule out anything suspicious.

“We don’t think there’s anything really significant but we want to be sure with that.

“We thought it would have been resolved by now but he’s still got a little bit of discomfort so we’re going to check on that.

“It’s a strange injury because it’s down the front of his shin more than the calf. Whether or not it’s the sheath of the muscle we’re not too sure but hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

Banks has featured in 18 games, including 14 starts, and scored three goals. Hughes has been impressed with the 21-year-old’s progress - and so have his Premier League parent club.

“He’s had a good first half of the season,” added the City boss. “It’s his first loan out (in English football) and he’s done really well.

“Crystal Palace have been in touch. Clubs like that have their loan managers and there’s a contract there.

“They are on top of how he is. They’re happy with how it’s been going.

“The clubs obviously want young players to be able to develop if they do go out and certainly Scott has done so since his first appearance.

“They want to see players coming to a club like ourselves and certainly improving.”

Hughes reckons Ciaran Kelly will be ready to be added to the mix in a couple of weeks.

The centre half has been playing catch-up with the rest of the squad since sealing his move from Irish side Bohemians at the start of last month.

His signing was officially confirmed on New Year's Day and he did a running session on the Valley Parade pitch ahead of the Salford game.

“Ciaran’s doing well,” said Hughes. “We’re getting him up to speed.

“He’s probably missed a month’s training and hasn’t been able to get to the required level.

“He’s a little bit behind but it’s not as if he’s coming back from a significant injury or anything.

“He just wasn’t able to get the level of training that you need if you’re going to come in straight away.

“He’s training well and taking part in everything that we’re doing now.

“We introduced him slowly and he probably just needs another couple of weeks of training and then he’ll be available.”

Kelly and Matt Derbyshire will both be involved in a training game at the ground to get the feel of playing again.

Hughes added: “We’re likely to have a game at the stadium just between ourselves to get on a decent surface. We’ll probably just have an hour or three 20s, something like that.

“We know a few guys will benefit from being able to play on the bigger areas. The surface at the ground is okay at the moment and can cope with it.

“It’s not like we’re going to compromise the pitch because that’s really important for us.”