Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United Not all that long ago, squad management was not a skill football managers particularly needed but the game has changed so much in that respect, so Henrik Pedersen and Daniel Farke will have to pick carefully when their sides meet in the League Cup on Tuesday.
Whether they are there in the stands, watching on television or even just following from further afield, supporters of Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United will badly want to put one over on their Yorkshire rivals, no matter how much their heads tell them league football is the priority.
Owls manager Pedersen will want to build on the positivity of his embattled side's first point of the season on Saturday – not to mention try to put a few more quid in the coffers.
But if selling family silver like Pierce Charles for a bag of magic beans would just be the latest crime on Dejphon Chansiri’s long charge sheet, breaking the youngsters beefing out a shallow squad would be hard to take too.
Pedersen’s counterpart Farke is also going to fight his instincts. Swapping the Premier League for the Championship means six fewer midweek fixtures, making it harder to get new signings and fringe players up to speed. Some will start that process at Hillsborough in the second-round tie.
The Owls have used 18 players in three Championship games.
Teams can field 16 per match and the number includes Pierce Charles and Nathaniel Chalboah, now injured. For Sean Fusire, Reece Johnson and Ernie Weaver they were maiden second-tier appearances.
Despite just six league starts, 20-year-old centre-back Gabriel Otegbayo has been cast in the role of senior player, but was benched for Saturday's 2-2 draw with Wrexham.
FITNESS CONCERNS: A massively-increased workload already seems to be taking its toll on Gabriel Otegbayo's 20-year-old body (Image: Steve Ellis)placeholder image
FITNESS CONCERNS: A massively-increased workload already seems to be taking its toll on Gabriel Otegbayo's 20-year-old body (Image: Steve Ellis)
"He is not fully fit," explained Pedersen afterwards. "We see that with a lot of the young guys that train with us. They start to struggle a little bit so we have to take care of them."
Wednesday's games this season have not just been physical but emotional slogs, the power from Leicester City's away end on the opening day strong, the drain of necessary off-field protests great. Wrexham away was both, the Welsh side muscling their way into a 2-0 lead the visitors fought back from.
For Leeds it is a different challenge.
BALANCING ACT: Daniel Farke with Willy Gnonto, who could be given a rest by Leeds United on Tuesday (Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)placeholder image
BALANCING ACT: Daniel Farke with Willy Gnonto, who could be given a rest by Leeds United on Tuesday (Image: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
Two games behind the Owls, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and latest signing James Justin are yet to make their Leeds debuts. Sean Longtaff, Noah Okafor, Lukas Nmecha, Brenden Aaronson, Sam Bryam and Jack Harrison have only had cameos.
Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are yet to make debuts. Sean Longtaff, Noah Okafor, Lukas Nmecha, Brenden Aaronson, Sam Bryam and Jack Harrison have only had cameos.
The immediate futures of Largie Ramazani and Isaac Schmidt would appear to lie on loan at Valencia and Werder Bremen respectively.
Ao Tanaka seems likely to join Ethan Ampadu on the sidelines. Both midfielders have medical cruciate ligament injuries.
TAKING CARE: Henrik Pedersen with Sheffield Wednesday youngster Charlie McNeill (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)placeholder image
TAKING CARE: Henrik Pedersen with Sheffield Wednesday youngster Charlie McNeill (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
"We have a few players who desperately need a bit of game-time after two gamedays not that much in the spotlight," acknowledges Farke. "For the new signings perhaps it's a chance to get used to everything.
"We want to go into the next round but you can expect a bit more rotation than we would perhaps normally do. I'm a big fan of just two or three rotations but in this game we will perhaps rotate a little bit more.
"I want players to get up to speed with their fitness level for the Premier League.
"It's not easy when you have many changes. Sometimes it's difficult for the players coming in. It's a bit easier if you come into a settled team.
"I don't put the crossbar of expectations too high, I just want to make sure we as a team show a good performance and get a good outcome.
"It's important I take the cup competition seriously otherwise we wouldn't travel there but it's fair to say the priority is definitely survival in the Premier League so we won't risk a player if there is an injury doubt or a doubt in terms of load."
For Sheffielder Calvert-Lewin, a product of the Blades academy, getting him up to speed poses a challenge after a lack of regular game-time over four injury-hit years.
"Dominic is progressing well day to day," says Farke. "There was a long summer break and five-and-a-half weeks of pre-season.
"At the moment we are doing a mini-pre-season with him. He is joining us in team training and growing from day to day but he does more than the rest of the team to build his fitness.
"I was a bit tempted on Saturday to let him travel with us but we decided he needed a few days on the training pitch.
"From day to day it's edging closer to us seeing him in the travelling squad for a competitive game.
"We will take a late decision for this game."