Montpellier vs Paris Saint Germain preview - PSG wait on Di Maria fitness

Paris St Germain are waiting on the fitness of big-money signing Angel di Maria as the defending champions look to continue their winning start to the new season against Montpellier on Friday.

Di Maria was unveiled to the PSG fans last Sunday following his B#44.3million transfer from Manchester United but was not included in the side to face Gazelec Ajaccio, and it remains to be seen when he will be available to make his debut.

The Argentina winger has been struggling with a hamstring injury and, while he is on the mend, Friday's match may be too soon for the 27-year-old.

Boss Laurent Blanc said on www.psg.fr: "He's suffered a muscle injury so we need to be careful. But he's very close to (joining) the group. Montpellier or Monaco? We'll see..."

Blanc confirmed star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not yet ready to return to action, though, with the Sweden striker having sprained a ligament in his right knee in pre-season.

"Zlatan trained with the group on Wednesday for the first time since sustaining the injury," Blanc said. "However, he is not ready to play at Montpellier as he is lacking match fitness.

"He will be part of the group but he will not play."

Even without two of their big-name forwards, PSG will still fancy their chances of overcoming winless Montpellier after hitting the ground running this season.

Following on from a pre-season which saw them beat the likes of Manchester United, Fiorentina and Benfica, PSG defeated Lyon to win the Trophee des Champions before claiming back-to-back league victories over Lille and Gazelec.

That is the first time since the 2005/06 season that Les Parisiens have won their opening two Ligue 1 matches and they will attempt to make it three from three on Friday night.

Blanc, whose side have yet to concede a goal this season, said to www.psg.fr: "We approach this game just like any other, with the aim to win whether we play at home or away. It's not a lack of respect towards our rivals but our ambition.

"There is no secret for our good start to the campaign. We gave the players individual training programmes during the summer and being the professionals they are, they followed them.

"We need to continue to show this (fighting) spirit, our physical form is not yet optimum but we are getting better and better.

"We have prepared well this week."

With Ibrahimovic still ruled out, Edinson Cavani is expected to again lead PSG's attack alongside Lucas Moura, with Javier Pastore playing in support.

Cavani has yet to open his Ligue 1 account for the campaign but the Uruguay forward will be optimistic of getting on the scoresheet against a Montpellier side that has lost their opening two matches to Angers and Rennes and are yet to score.

To complicate matters for the hosts, Rolland Courbis' side has suffered a blow ahead of Friday's match with goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren ruled out for the encounter with a right calf injury.

Jonathan Ligali will replace him in goal.

Courbis, whose team finished in seventh place last season, said on his club's wesbite: "To face PSG with zero points is not ideal but this game is nevertheless an opportunity to hit back.

"One of our best games last season was against PSG at the Parc des Princes and this should give us confidence."