Barcelona duo Eric Abidal and Yaya Toure have come down with swine flu and will not play at Athletic Bilbao.

The virus has hit clubs across Spain in recent weeks, but Barca had been unaffected until now.

Both Abidal and Toure were diagnosed with the virus today and are expected to be out of action for several days as Barca look to avoid a spread of the infection.

Coach Pep Guardiola said: "What we have to do is try to make sure it spreads to the least amount of people possible.

"We have isolated them and I hope they get over it quickly - it was something that could happen and it has happened."

In the absence of France left-back Abidal, summer signing Maxwell will start in defence, while Guardiola has an array of midfield options to cover for the loss of Toure.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also out through injury and the Swede's absence could mean Thierry Henry starts in the centre forward role.

Henry played all 120 minutes of France's World Cup play-off against Ireland in Paris on Wednesday night, and remains at the centre of a media storm following his role in his country's controversial winner.

Henry clearly controlled the ball with his hand before squaring for William Gallas to score, and could be in for a hostile reception in Bilbao.

Basques have long been considered to have a strong bond with the Irish and the home fans could make their feelings known to the Frenchman tomorrow night.

Henry may, though, have do make do with a place on the bench as Guardiola is not keen on starting players when they return tired from international duty.

In that case, youngster Bojan Krkic will come in for a rare league start.

"He has a marvellous future ahead of him," Guardiola said.

Meanwhile, Gabi Milito is definitely out.

The Argentina defender made his long-awaited comeback from injury this week following a year-and-a-half on the sidelines when he appeared for Barca in a friendly played behind closed doors.

But the centre-back is still not deemed ready to return and will not travel to Bilbao.

Seydou Keita is back, though, after recovering from a minor injury, and may start in the absence of Toure.

Despite several notable absences, Guardiola says there will be no excuses for failure to win in Bilbao.

"We'll have 11 on the pitch and seven on the bench, and that's that. I don't want excuses or whining," he said.

With several players missing, Guardiola has called youngster Jonathan Dos Santos - younger brother of Spurs' Giovani - into the squad for tomorrow night's match.

Barca currently lead the Primera Division by a point from fierce rivals Real Madrid after 10 rounds of the championship and have yet to lose a match in the league this term.

Athletic, meanwhile, began the season in style, winning their first three matches to sit joint top alongside Barca and Real Madrid.

The Basques then dropped into the bottom half of the table after picking up just one point from the next five games, but have won their last two since then to move back up to eighth place.

Joaquin Caparros' side now sit just a point behind sixth-placed Mallorca after 10 matches.

And the coach insists he is looking for a win tomorrow.

He said: "We can't be happy with a draw - we have to aim as high as possible and go for a win.

"We will have to play with a strong tempo from the start and maintain that balance for the 90 minutes."

Caparros will wait until tomorrow lunchtime until deciding on the fitness of his doubtful players.

Of those, Gorka Iraizoz and Gaizka Toquero are expected to be fit, but Fernando Llorente may miss out and Iker Muniain is almost certain to be sidelined. Aitor Ocio is also missing.

Veteran forward Joseba Etxeberria will be keen to score against Barca, having netted against every other Primera Division outfit but never against the Catalans.