John Terry will miss fourth-placed Chelsea's home match against Manchester United on Sunday with a knee injury, sparing him unwelcome attention under the spotlight after the FA stripped him of the England captaincy on Friday.
Terry, who faces a court case in July for alleged racist comments to Anton Ferdinand, brother of United's Rio, has not recovered from the knee injury that kept him out of the 1-1 draw away to Swansea City on Tuesday.
United have been given a boost from the treatment room with several injured players in contention for Sunday's trip to Chelsea.
"We're a bit better in terms of injuries," manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the club's website.
"I think he will be useful for us in the next four months," Mancini said of the 32-year-old, "It's not a gamble."
Third-placed Tottenham Hotspur have serious doubts about Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon for Monday's trip to Liverpool as they try to recover from hamstring injuries.
"It's a great feeling to be here, I'm really excited," Saha told the Spurs website. "I love scoring goals and I see many opportunities with the wingers and the way we play. I can't wait."
Resurgent Liverpool will have Luis Suarez available for the visit of Spurs after he completed his eight-match ban for making a racist comment to Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
