Hatem Ben Arfa will not be considered for a Premier League start against Manchester City on Saturday, despite impressing on his full Hull City debut this week.
Ben Arfa completed his first 90 minutes since February when he started the Tigers' 3-2 loss to West Brom in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.
The France international showed flashes of his potential in a free attacking role and set up Robbie Brady's goal with a deft pass at the Hawthorns.
Ben Arfa was one of the few to state his case for inclusion against Manchester City on Saturday but manager Steve Bruce says it remains too soon on the player's road back to fitness.
"There's no question that he can always pick a pass. He's got fantastic ability," said Bruce.
"We also have to bear in mind he hasn't really played since last February which is a hell of a long time.
"He might have a part to play on Saturday but there's a lot to do with his levels of fitness and he's still got a lot to do before we let him loose on the Premier League.
"It would be wrong of me to ask him to play two games in four days when he hasn't played one game in seven months.
"We have to box clever with him. Everybody knows what ability the kid's got and he'll be a big asset I'm sure but we have to get him to the right fitness levels before we even contemplate (regular starts).
"I was contemplating taking him off with 15 minutes to go (v West Brom) just to save something, but that wasn't possible."
There are also doubts over both David Meyler (back) and Gaston Ramirez (groin) ahead of the game.
Meyler suffered the injury late in the West Brom defeat and underwent scans yesterday, while Ramirez continues to be troubled by an ongoing problem.
