Lloyd Dyer is not in contention to feature for Burton Albion in Saturday's decisive bottom-of-the-table clash with Sunderland - and they are waiting to assess the fitness of several other players.
Dyer - the Brewers' leading scorer this season with seven to his name in the Championship - sustained a hamstring injury in the first half of last week's 5-0 defeat at home to Hull City.
That forced him to miss the weekend win over Derby County and will also rule him out of the trip to the Stadium of Light, where Albion could be relegated if results go against them.
Tom Naylor, Damien McCrory, Marvin Sordell and Tom Flanagan were others to miss the Derby game with injury, and decisions on their availability will be made closer to the time.
As ever, several other players are carrying knocks, according to Nigel Clough, although Darren Bent is eligible to return against his former club.
On Dyer, Clough said: "He is not in contention, certainly not for this weekend.
"We'll see how he is after that, but no chance for this weekend.
"I think we had about 12 or 13 training yesterday, so there will be a few more on Wednesday morning and then we'll take it from there.
"We just have to wait on Tom Naylor, Damien McCrory and Marvin Sordell.
"Darren Bent will be back available - he should be fine and back in the squad.
"And we are hoping that everybody who played last Saturday comes through.
"Ben Turner got a knock, Kyle McFadzean got one, so there are one or two carrying things.
"Jacob Davenport came off with a whack as well, so we'll just have to see how they are."
With no midweek fixtures left this season, the Brewers are at least given extra time to recover for three potentially huge games against Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End.
Not that Clough would mind having a few more matches left to play.
"I wish we did have Tuesday night games, I wish we had another three or four games!" he added.
"With six or seven to go, we'd be in a better position.
"A clear week in between the games is very important.
"And even the eight days between the last game and the second to last, even that will help."
Away from Albion's impending crunch clash with the Black Cats, Clough confirmed that Ben Fox will miss the rest of the campaign with a hamstring injury.
The academy graduate impressed during a loan spell at National League side Gateshead at the start of 2018, earning a string of man-of-the-match awards and bagging a couple of eye-catching goals along the way.
"He came on as a substitute for Gateshead) and it went again," said Clough.
"I think it's the same one that went a few weeks ago.
"That'll be his season, so it'll be a case now of him getting fit and working hard in the summer and strengthening his hamstrings.
"It's been a good experience for him and it’s strange because if we'd have been done now and known our fate, if we were going down, we would have called him back and played him."
