Ange Postecoglou will be praying that his Tottenham team do not pick up any further issues over the coming days prior to their Premier League return. Following Sunday's 4-3 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, Spurs play in the Europa League on Thursday evening as they make the trip to Glasgow to face Rangers.
Another away game is on the calendar three days later with Southampton their opponents in the Premier League. At a time when everything seems to be going wrong for Tottenham with injuries hitting them hard and wins extremely hard to come by, Postecoglou already knows he will have to do without one of his regulars at St Mary's.
Yves Bissouma is now suspended for the match on the south coast after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the defeat to Chelsea. The Mali international received a caution when needlessly bringing down Moises Caicedo in the penalty box at a time when Spurs were leading 2-1.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou revealed that both penalties Tottenham gave away were "self-inflicted and unnecessary challenges" and very much "poor on our behalf". Bissouma will only be absent for one domestic match but he will join Rodrigo Bentancur, who is currently serving a seven-match ban, in watching on when Tottenham take on Southampton.
That in turn leaves Postecoglou with a bit of a dilemma on his hands when it comes to the No.6 role in midfield. Midfield is one area Tottenham have been well stocked in of late but the absence of both Bissouma and Bentancur limits Postecoglou's options on Sunday.
Archie Gray would seem like the natural replacement for Bissouma in the team as he is expected to flourish in the No.6 role for years to come. The Durham-born ace has so far spent the majority of his Tottenham career playing in the backline, with limited opportunities in midfield coming his way.
Gray could even be required in defence on Sunday after Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven's substitutions against Chelsea and also due to the absence of Ben Davies. Tottenham fans are desperate to see Gray operate at No.6 and Sunday's encounter against Southampton appears to be the perfect time to unleash him there.
One other option available to Postecoglou is to drop Pape Matar Sarr back into a slightly deeper role. Excelling as a No.8 of late after initially finding himself out of the Tottenham XI in the opening weeks of the season, the boss may have no other choice but to play him in Bissouma's role.
Sarr probably will be given a breather at Rangers on Thursday night with Bentancur available for their European encounter, meaning he should be nice and fresh for the match at St Mary's. If that is indeed the case, it may be Sarr at No.6 with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski ahead of him.
Lucas Bergvall is another who could be in contention for the role after playing there previously for Swedish side Djurgarden. The youngster has enjoyed a couple of decent little cameo appearances off the bench of late but he is still waiting for his first Premier League start in a Tottenham shirt.
Thirteen minutes is the most he has played in one game so far, with that coming in the 3-0 win over Manchester United at the end of September. The Stockholm-born ace does have plenty of minutes to his name in the Europa League, though, and now it is about biding his time when it comes to domestic football.
Whereas Postecoglou is so short on options in some positions, the Australian does have choice at No.6 for Southampton on Sunday but it is all about choosing the right man for such an important game for the team.
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