Nottingham Forest have been hit hard by injury and suspension issues of late, and there may be more to follow.
The Reds have appeared incapable over recent weeks of avoiding being struck by heavy blows.
Some of those have, admittedly, been self-inflicted.
Danny Fox rather needlessly shoved and argued his way to a red card at Reading last time out.
Tendayi Darikwa then lost his head – and control of his feet – to join his skipper in an early bath.
Prior to a forgettable outing at the Madejski Stadium, fitness issues had been stacking up.
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Fox has spent more than his fair share of time on the treatment table this season.
Michael Dawson is still occupying said piece of furniture, while Tobias Figueiredo has struggled with a niggling knock.
Missing
Fellow centre-half Michael Hefele has also been laid low and right-back loanee Sam Byram has not been seen since August.
Juan Fuentes has been out even longer, since suffering a serious knee injury on debut last season.
And at the opposite end of the field Hillal Soudani is edging closer to a return, but has been missing for close to three months.
With all of the above taken into account, the last thing the Reds need is to see more players removed from contention.
There are, however, two key men treading a disciplinary tightrope.
Jack Colback and Jack Robinson have collected nine yellow cards apiece to this point.
One more and they will be stung with a two-match ban.
Given that the next cut off point for the accumulation of cautions comes after 37 games, it is safe to assume that more selection headaches are on the way.
Wholehearted
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Forest have taken in just 27 outings so far.
Expecting two wholehearted performers to steer clear of the referee’s notebook for 10 fixtures goes well beyond the realms of wishful thinking.
Suspensions are coming, we just don’t know when.
And there is no good time in which to wish removing two senior stars from the picture.
Both men have figured in 24 games so far – with Colback starting on all of his appearances.
They have been consistent and reliable performers (on the whole).
It would be a surprise if they did not figure prominently in Martin O’Neill’s regime as well.
There is, however, a very real threat that their efforts to impress a new boss could be halted before they have really begun.