Frank Onyeka is sweating on his fitness ahead of Coventry City's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Aston Villa, after picking up an injury in the 5-0 home thrashing by Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

The defensive midfielder was withdrawn from the match with 18 minutes remaining, replaced by Ghana international Caleb Yirenkyi. The extent of the knock remains unclear, with Onyeka racing against time to prove his fitness before kick-off.

Coventry will also be without fellow Nigeria international Taiwo Awoniyi, who earned a suspension after being dismissed in the 53rd minute of the Brighton defeat.

The injury list does not stop there — Josh Eccles, Kaine Kesler-Hayden, Luke Woolfenden, and Haji Wright are all ruled out of the cup clash, leaving manager Frank Lampard with a heavily depleted squad.

It has been a turbulent opening to the season for Coventry, who have managed only one win from five matches across all competitions. The Carabao Cup tie represents an opportunity to arrest that slide, though the scale of their current absentees will make the task against Aston Villa considerably harder.