Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy has been forced into a change to his rampant team for Saturday's trip to struggling Luton Town.
Midfield man Darren Potter will have to serve a one-game suspension after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign in Saturday's 1-0 win over Leeds United. But after a run of four wins, McCarthy is not short of options with players eager to come in and replace him.
Youngsters Mark Davies and Stephen Gleeson are both in the frame, although McCarthy's most likely move would be to switch Karl Henry, a stand-in both as right-back and as skipper during Wolves' winning run, back to his more familiar central midfield role.
That would allow him to switch Rob Edwards back to the flank and restore fit-again captain Jody Craddock.
McCarthy admits that it is a blow losing a player like Potter, who has flourished since completing his January move from Liverpool, having truly grasped the nettle since being given the chance in his preferred position in the middle of the park.
"It's a dilemma for me," said McCarthy. ""Potts was my man of the match by a mile on Saturday. I could tell by his immediate reaction that he realised his booking meant a suspension. It knocked him off his stride for a few minutes.
"I've got options. I could move Karl Henry back into midfield and there's others waiting in the wings but it's better than me having to worry about chasing a loan signing because we haven't got players we can bring in."
Davies, itching to play following the pre-season knee injury that kept him out for the first four months of the campaign, does at least have the consolation of a game for the England Under-19s next month.
Davies and his Wolves team-mate Mark Little have both been named in the squad for the meeting with Turkey at Doncaster Rovers' new Keepmoat Stadium on March 21, the final friendly game before the UEFA European Championship finals in May. Both Wolves players featured in a 4-1 win over Poland earlier this month at Bournemouth.
Meanwhile, Wolves have made further preparations for the future by signing four 18-year-old youth-team players on senior contracts. Defender Lee Collins, who has made several appearances on the first-team bench without getting a game, striker Liam Hughes and midfielders Elliott Bennett and Mark Salmon have all signed deals until July 2009.
Collins, Hughes and Bennett are local Black Country products who have been affiliated to Wolves since the age of nine. Along with Dubliner Salmon, they have all impressed in training with the first team in recent weeks and will become full-time members of McCarthy's squad in July.
