The England left-back suffered a broken toe in the thrilling 3-3 Merseyside derby against Liverpool last weekend and will be out for up to six weeks.
Baines' absence leaves a big void for manager Roberto Martinez to fill and the Spaniard revealed he will decide who will replace the former Wigan Athletic man after running the rule over potential candidates in training this week.
Martinez's charges are unbeaten in five games and will be boosted by the inclusion of defender Antonlin Alcaraz in the squad after he came through 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors game against Sheffield Wednesday this week.
"It (speculation) doesn't surprise me because obviously Nikica Jelavic is a terrific player to have, he's a goalscorer and you don't get them easily in the game." he said.
"From our point of view he is very important and he needs to be ready to help the team when the opportunity arises, which could be very soon."
Mark Hughes' side are unbeaten in their last three top-flight games, but have only won once on their travels in the league and that was at West Ham back in August.
