Swansea duo Wilfried Bony and Renato Sanches ruled out of Manchester United cup clash

Swansea City will be without Wilfried Bony and Renato Sanches for their Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Manchester United on Tuesday night (24 October), although Roque Mesa will be given an opportunity to impress as Paul Clement plans changes to his team after they slumped to their fourth home defeat in five matches over the weekend.

Striker Bony, who rejoined the Swans from Manchester City in a £12m ($15.8m) deal this summer, did not play in that disappointing 2-1 loss to managerless Leicester City on Saturday and has not featured at all for over three weeks after being substituted at half-time in a narrow defeat to West Ham United.

A scan while the player was away on international duty with the Ivory Coast showed some scar tissue in his calf affecting a nerve going up to his hamstring.

That forced Bony to miss the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Mali and Swansea's subsequent win over Huddersfield Town. He subsequently sustained a thigh problem during a training session.

Underwhelming Bayern Munich loanee Sanches returned to the side to face Leicester after missing the previous game with a thigh strain picked up with Portugal but lasted only 78 minutes before sustaining his own thigh issue.

Like Bony, he will not be available to face Manchester United and could also be a real doubt for Saturday's trip to Arsenal.

Centre-back Kyle Bartley might not return from medial ligament damage until after Christmas, although Leroy Fer has now served a one-match suspension after accumulating five yellow cards.

"Wilfried will not be fit and Renato came off against Leicester with an injury to his thigh," Clement told reporters in a pre-match press conference held on Monday. "It is not the same one that he had while he was with the national team, but it will keep him out of this game and possibly at the weekend as well."

Former Las Palmas midfielder Mesa has failed to register much of an impact since swapping Gran Canaria for South Wales in July, starting just one top-flight match and not even making the squad against Huddersfield or Leicester.

The 28-year-old recently suggested that he may have to consider a return to Spain if his situation does not change over the next two months and Clement, who says he knew that it would take time for Mesa to settle in the Premier League, has now challenged him to make the most of the opportunities that come his way.

"Roque is one player I have already told that he will be starting tomorrow," he added. "He is looking forward to it. He has been out of the last two squads. He was disappointed the first time he was left out but we won the game and the only change I made for the game after that was forced on me because Leroy Fer was suspended.

"Now he deserves his chance. Some people have questioned why he has not been in the team. He is still getting up to speed, but he has been training hard and he is ready for a start. I have said before that La Liga is very different from the Premier League. He is making gradual adjustments and I am sure we will see some of those tomorrow night."

Clement also revealed that young striker Oliver McBurnie would be in contention against Manchester United, along with Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge. The 21-year-old has not been involved since seeing a proposed deadline-day loan switch to Barnsley collapse last month due to paperwork issues.