Coach Gao Hongbo will wait until just hours before his side's World Cup qualifying match against Syria kicks off before deciding his starting lineup as fatigue threatens to catch up with the China national team.
Central defender Feng Xiaoting missed training earlier in the week due to a fever and striker Yang Xu has also struggled with muscular issues in the build-up to a game China need to win after picking up just one point in their opening two games.
A loss to South Korea in the opening round of matches was followed by a scoreless draw against Iran as China seek to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002.
"Like I said before, at this moment the players are quite tired and it's easy for them to get injured," said Gao. "I will discuss our starting lineup at around midday with the doctors on the day of the game."
Many in China expect Gao's team to claim all three points against a Syrian side that is unable to play their home matches in their own country due to the ongoing security situation, but that has not stopped the Syrians from believing the meeting with Gao's team is their best chance to pick up points.
Despite that, the China coach was quick to caution against either side taking victory for granted.
"There is no weak team at this stage," he said. "I heard the Syrians considered us as their weakest opponent in this group, but all we can do is focus on ourselves and do our own work.
"We have a strategy that runs until the end of the qualifying campaign, and when it comes to each game of course we have our own tactics."