Nahki Wells is doubtful for Huddersfield Town’s FA Cup replay against Manchester City tonight because of an ankle injury, while manager David Wagner will have to watch the eagerly anticipated fixture from the stands because of a two-match touchline ban.

Wells picked up the injury in the victory over Reading on February 21, when he limped off in the closing minutes of the Sky Bet Championship match. He missed Saturday’s trip to Barnsley, where Huddersfield could only manage a 1-1 draw after Michael Hefele had put the visiting side ahead.

Huddersfield, still third in the Championship, face two tough encounters in the next few days, starting with their visit to the Etihad Stadium for the Cup replay. They held the Premier League side to a goalless draw at home two weeks ago, but City will be the clear favourites at home, with a trip away to Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals awaiting the winners.

Vincent Kompany, the City captain, has been ruled out through injury that kept him out of the first encounter.

Wagner is banned from the touchline for the next two games in the wake of an altercation with Leeds manager Garry Monk after he sprinted down the touchline to celebrate Huddersfield’s 89th-minute winner in the Yorkshire derby. Wagner was also fined £6,000 while Monk received a one-match ban and a £3,000 fine.

Wagner admitted his enjoyment of tonight’s replay will be tarnished by his touchline ban. He said it was “a great occasion” and that he felt “humbled” that Huddersfield were still in the world’s oldest cup competition.

Wagner was handed the ban by the Football Association on Monday and fined for improper conduct after joining his players on the pitch to celebrate his team’s winning goal in the derby match with Leeds.

The German was pushed by opposite number Monk on his way back to his seat and that altercation prompted a mass mêlée between the clubs’ players and coaching staffs.

Huddersfield and Leeds were each fined £10,000 for failing to control their players, with Wagner saying he did not agree with his own punishment.

“So many things happen in this world which I don’t agree with and don’t understand,” he told a news conference yesterday. “I’m happy I’m still able to be in the country and that they don’t send me out. But I have to accept it and go forward, and we shouldn’t make it bigger than it is.

“I’m able to be with the group before the game and at half-time. Some managers, like Steve McClaren, they watch from the stands every game. It’s a new experience for me. I have no idea how it feels.”

When asked if he had given his assistant, Christoph Bühler, permission to celebrate in similar fashion with his players should Huddersfield score a last-minute winner tonight, Wagner added: “If he has enough money, then he can do it. I don’t agree. I don’t understand it, but I have to handle it and live with it. But it was harsh in my opinion, and for me not understandable.”

Huddersfield have lost only one of their previous 18 games in all competitions and are the closest challengers to the Championship’s top two, Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United, in the race for automatic promotion. Newcastle gained the edge in the title race last night with a dramatic 2-1 come-from-behind win away to Brighton.

Wagner maintained that the Cup replay was not a distraction to Saturday’s match with Newcastle at the John Smith’s Stadium. “The feeling is the same as ten days ago, to be fair,” he said. “We were able to transform this positive feeling into a good performance and this is what we hope we can do again.

“To play this game, with this good run we are on, in a different competition, gives you a special feeling for this game because you can really play with freedom. It’s an extraordinary occasion, which everybody can be excited about, and we should transform this into a good performance.”

Defender Christopher Schindler will play no part after suffering a knock in Saturday’s draw at Oakwell, Aaron Mooy, who is on loan from City, is ineligible to face his parent club.

Midfielder Kasey Palmer is out with a hamstring injury, but, otherwise, Wagner hopes to have a full-strength squad to choose from, with winger Sean Scannell and Harry Bunn back in training.

The Newcastle match three days later will be televised on Sky Sports and is available to Bermuda viewers from 1.30pm. It is a match that may have a strong bearing on Huddersfield’s promotion aspirations. They won 2-1 at St James’ Park on August 13, Wells scoring the opening goal, which played a significant part in a rapid-fire start to the season that has been remarkably sustained.