Sean Morrison could make his first start since May when Cardiff City open their Championship season at Birmingham City on Saturday.
The central defender had an ankle injury before the end of last season and underwent an operation that ruled him out of most of the club’s pre-season programme.
But Morrison made his comeback with 45 minutes of action in the 1-0 friendly defeat to Bournemouth last week and insists he will be fit to start.
He said: “I’m 100% ready. Fitness wise it’s not a problem, I’ve done a lot of work on and off the pitch over the last 12 weeks to get myself ready for this point.”
Morrison is likely to be part of a five-man Bluebirds back four introduced by new manager Paul Trollope and influenced by his coaching involvement with Wales at Euro 2016.
Fabio would be part of that defensive unit, unless speculation over a rumoured bid from Premier League newcomers Middlesbrough leads to his departure.
The Brazilian is understood to have a £2m release clause in his contract and Cardiff chief executive Ken Choo has stressed that the club are open to bids for all their players if they feel the price is right.
That could apply to Fabio, who has only a year left on his current contract.
Summer signings Jazz Richards and Frederic Gounongbe are both in line to make their Cardiff debuts at St Andrews.
Lex Immers is also expected to start after making his loan stay from Feyenoord permanent, but Kagisho Dikgacoi, Adam Le Fondre and Federico Macheda will not feature after being told by Trollope that they are free to leave the club.
Despite the change in manager, Morrison believes that the Bluebirds have stability that stems from Trollope’s work under previous manager Russell Slade.
He added: “Not much has changed, to be honest. A lot has changed and a lot hasn’t changed in and around the club.
“There’s the new formation which you can see, but we’ve worked with Trolls for a long time so we know exactly how he works and how he wants us to work, so it wasn’t too bad to come back in against Bournemouth.
“Last season we had four very good centre-backs at the club, including Ben Turner. We’ve got Semi Ajayi coming through now as well so we’ve got strength in numbers. It’s going to be a difficult decision for the gaffer but it’s nice for him to have options.
“I think we’re going to be a very fit and very organised team. The Championship is obviously a very difficult league when you look at the teams that have come down and up.
“All we can do is make sure we’re right for the first day of the season and build from there.”
