It's part and parcel of any season but Preston North End have been dealt their fair share of injury and availability setbacks so far.
The Lilywhites started the campaign with a threadbare match day squad, but remarkably managed to win six games on the spin. North End manager Ryan Lowe's options have been boosted since then, but there have still been blows along the way.
Here's a recap of them all - and the ones Preston headed into the season with too.
5. Greg Cunningham - hamstring, one month
With Hughes sidelined, Cunningham was thrust on to centre stage and pulled up in his fifth start in 24 days - away to Hull City. The Irishman is at a stage of his career where his workload needs to be managed, but the PNE boss' options were rather thin. Cunningham got himself back reasonably quickly and he will be relied upon during a busy festive period, where rotation is key. | CameraSport - Andrew Kearns
6. Jordan Storey - illness, two games
A minor absence for the centre-back, but for two of PNE's toughest games this season. Having Storey unavailable for the Leicester and Ipswich trips - especially with the early blow to Whatmough at Portman Road - was not ideal for the Lilywhites. | CameraSport - Alex Dodd
7. Calvin Ramsay - knee, four months
It was a long old wait to see the Liverpool loan man in action, so hopefully Ramsay can make up for lost time from now until May. The Scot picked up the problem during pre-season and returned to the Reds for rehabilitation. | CameraSport - Rich Linley
8. Ben Whiteman - hernia, six weeks
Whiteman underwent surgery in the summer and didn't feature for PNE until September 16th. In his absence, Ryan Ledson and McCann marshalled things well in midfield as Preston started the season strongly. | CameraSport - Andrew Kearns