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Glenn Roeder admits he will be asking some of his players to perform unfamiliar roles against Everton on Wednesday evening.
With injuries to John Moncur, Don Hutchison, Steve Lomas, and Michael Carrick, Glenn's options are severely limited and he admits:
"We are in a little run at the moment with these four midfield players injured, and obviously Fredi Kanoute has played 18 games out of 28.
"Fortunately in the 18 games he has played he has played a major part because he has knocked in eight goals, and we are very lucky because we have had Jermain Defoe to come in and deputise magnificently.
"Paul Kitson has also played his part, particularly at Charlton when he scored a hat trick and deserved to be on the winning the side.
"But we are probably on our worst run with these four senior players injured, and because of the smallness of the squad I'm obviously going to have to ask one or two players to play in positions they don't normally play in - but they seem up for it.
"I have spoken to the individuals, and I have spoken to them as a team, and we are all rallying together; we are closely knit and we go into the game with a positive attitude."
Glenn points to the example of Trevor Sinclair, and explains:
"Trevor is terrific and that is the sort of attitude I'm looking for from all the players.
"He has never really played in the centre of midfield but I put him there in the latter stages of the game against Aston Villa.
"Him and Joe Cole did very well in there and there is no reason why Trevor can't play there; he is so powerful, strong, quick with the ball.
"The two or three players that have to play in a bit of an unfamiliar role will really get their heads down and perform; we must stick together, and I'm sure we will.
"We need to be a tight unit and we have got to play with lots of courage to make things happen on the night for us."
Walter Smith knows all about injuries affecting your standing, and Glenn adds:
"He has had a tough two or three years there and money has been tight; obviously the job is that much more difficult when funds are small and when he had a spell of losing five on the trot it coincided with all his strikers being injured.
"That is why, when I saw Walter before Christmas when his youth team came down and I had a chat with him, he said there are so many clubs in the Premiership with small squads, that their season will ride on how healthy the squad stays.
"And, with his managerial experience, I think he is spot on; you need to be very fortunate with injuries, to keep the small squad that you have got fit so that you can put out your best team week in, week out."
A recent plus on the injury front has been the return to action of Ian Pearce after a long lay-off, and Glenn adds:
"Every game he is adding to his fitness; this will be his third game now and we have got to keep him on the go.
"Hopefully he can play in all the games this year; we certainly need his physical presence."
Fredi Kanoute returns after missing Saturday, and Glenn adds:
"Fredi trained on Monday and Tuesday and looks to be fully recovered from the cold that kept him out on Saturday.
"In the game against Middlesbrough he had a right battle against Southgate and Ehiogu, and when he is in that frame of mind he is a real handful, the sort of physical presence that any team needs in the attacking third.
"The team spirit is good and players who might just have to adjust for a game or two are willing to do that, pull their weight behind a team effort, and we have got to be all about teamwork."
Glenn checked on Everton personally at the weekend when they drew with Leeds, and he says:
"I was always going to go up to see Everton play anyway but I couldn't have stayed in as I would have been moping around the house.
"To be quite honest, the least they deserved was a draw, and they probably could have beaten Leeds, especially as they had 10 men, though it is not always that easy.
"Overall Everton probably had the better chances; they are a big, strong, powerful side and we must snuff out the threat of the front two.
"But there is always a special atmosphere at night at Upton Park and hopefully we can get off to a good start to generate the crowd and really get them going."