Wout Faes needed stitches for a gruesome facial gash that could leave Leicester City with just one available senior centre-back for the Derby County clash next weekend.
Faes picked up the injury during a Sheffield United set-piece late in the first half of Saturday’s loss and received attention for the wound at the side of the pitch.
He went down the tunnel before the first half ended and then did not come back out for the second period, with midfielder Oliver Skipp stepping in effectively alongside Jannik Vestergaard.
City are short on defenders at the moment, with Caleb Okoli out until Christmas with a knee issue and with Ben Nelson not yet back in training after an ankle problem sustained at Norwich. Harry Souttar is now back in training, but will need time to regain match fitness after 11 months out with an Achilles tear.
Faes could recover in time to feature at Pride Park next week, even if it means turning out in a protective mask. However, City boss Marti Cifuentes did mention the Belgian was also dealing with dizziness.
If Vestergaard is the only fit senior centre-back, Cifuentes may have to rely on Skipp again as a ball-playing defender. Alternatively, he could use Hamza Choudhury, who has had a couple of outings at centre-back for City before.
Bade Aluko, usually a full-back, caught the eye at centre-back in the summer friendlies and will be back from suspension next week.
If Cifuentes wants to dip further into the academy, then Kevon Gray is one of the club’s top talents but he’s never been included in a senior matchday squad before.
“It’s a very nasty cut,” Cifuentes said in his post-match press conference. “It required a lot of stitches. It was bleeding quite a lot. He couldn’t continue.”
The manager added to BBC Radio Leicester: “He felt dizzy at half-time, so we had to sub him. But I felt Skippy did really well to play as a centre-half.”