Michael Dawson has now sat out three-and-a-half games for Nottingham Forest, with no alternative option settled upon in his absence.
The Reds skipper hobbled out of a trip to Stoke on September 27.
He has not been seen since.
Having experienced similar 12 months ago, the sight of Dawson heading for the treatment room was most unwelcome.
His current setback is far less severe than the one suffered in 2018.
The hope is that he will soon be back at the heart of the back four.
Forest need that to be the case.
Not just for his obvious ability and leadership, but because uncertainty has crept into what was a settled unit.
Brice Samba, Matty Cash, Michael Dawson, Joe Worrall and either Jack Robinson or Yuri Ribeiro.
With Ben Watson then slotted into a holding role just in front of them.
Belief
The back six was pretty much picking itself.
And results mirrored the belief and optimism established within a side that has been crying out for stability and continuity.
That has been thrown up into the air somewhat.
Both through necessity and choice.
There is nothing Sabri Lamouchi can do about the fact that Dawson picked up another untimely knock.
He has, however, been the one selecting cover.
Chema stepped off the bench at Stoke and started at home to Brentford.
At Blackburn, Tobias Figueiredo got the nod, as he did during another trip to Lancashire on Sunday to take on Wigan.
The Portuguese failed to impress against the Latics.
Inability
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His inability to deal with a ball fed into the six-yard box allowed Jamal Lowe to snatch a match-winner.
Chema, in contrast, has earned plenty of praise for his showings to date.
Lamouchi told the club’s official website after shuffling his pack again: “Maybe I was wrong with the changes, but I trust in everyone. I have a lot of confidence in all of my players and it was tactical choices, but in the game on the pitch we missed a lot.
“I took some choices and I have this responsibility; I don’t have any problem with that.”
Changes are going to be required at some stage over the course of a 46-game season.
Lamouchi, though, is seemingly yet to determine who his third-choice centre-half is.
Dawson and Worrall are established as the favoured partnership, but who steps in when they miss out?
That is one of several big decisions facing the man calling the shots at the City Ground.
There are not too many calls that Lamouchi has got wrong to this point, but a lesson was certainly learned at Wigan.
Hopefully another defensive dilemma will be avoided for the foreseeable future, with Forest now longing for Dawson to step back in as his value increases during an enforced spell on the sidelines.
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