Manchester City are facing an anxious wait ahead of their match with Crystal Palace on Saturday. With Pablo Zabaleta out injured, right-back Bacary Sagna has been grasping his opportunity in the first-team with both hands and has put in four displays so far this season that have suggested the Argentine may have a fight on his hands for the starting berth. So the last thing the manager and the fans wanted to see on Monday night was the Frenchman sitting on his national team's bench with an ice pack on his ankle.
It's been a remarkable turnaround for Sagna in Manchester. At the end of 2014-15, very few supporters would have been that bothered if the defender had left the club. He was well below the level that Zabaleta had shown in the previous couple of years and didn't provide much of a challenge to him.
Looking back now, it's possible that he wasn't given the chance to settle in to the team and, despite having played in the Premier League for seven years with Arsenal, he just needed time to get used to his new surroundings.
But with Zabaleta's late arrival back from the Copa America and his subsequent injury, Sagna has had the opportunity to show what he could do. A solid performance in the win against West Brom set the tone, but it wasn't facing an opponent who really tested him. As he stole the ball from current Premier League Player of the Year Eden Hazard to lead a breakaway during the 3-0 hammering of Chelsea in the next match, it became clear that his chance was well deserved.
With Zabaleta out of action, Manuel Pellegrini would not have been happy to see his first-choice full-back limping around the pitch for the last 10 minutes of the first half of France's 2-1 win over Serbia earlier in the week. Equally, though, it could be seen as encouraging that he continued to the interval as it may indicate the injury isn't too serious.
Without a recognised replacement in the squad, the club will be doing everything they can to make sure Sagna is ready for action on Saturday afternoon. If he's not able to play though, the manager faces a problem. He'd be reluctant to hand new signing Nicolas Otamendi his debut if it means playing him out of position, while his only other option looks to be youngster Pablo Maffeo who arrived from Barcelona but hasn't had much of a chance to prove himself.
Pellegrini would normally have switched Gael Clichy to the right side, but while it's not the left-back's ideal position -- he deputised reasonably well there at the start of last season -- he too is sidelined by injury. Otamendi could have troubled memories of playing at right-back as well. Back in the 2010 World Cup, he was asked to fill in on the flank for Argentina as they faced Germany in the quarterfinal and he was torn to pieces by a combination of Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil.
Of course, the defender, then an inexperienced 22-year-old, wasn't entirely to blame for the 4-0 defeat and he was left badly exposed by his teammates. Nevertheless, the Germans pounced on what they perceived to be the weak link and it could still weigh heavy on Otamendi's mind.
Travelling to Selhurst Park was always going to be a tough test for the club. The Eagles have started the season on fire and have already chalked up a fine win over a big team in beating champions Chelsea on their own turf. With the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Yannick Bolasie -- who'll be directly up against whichever right-back City select -- showing destructive form, this fixture could be more problematic for Pellegrini than any of the tests he's faced so far this campaign.
Should he select Maffeo to take on Bolasie, the manager will be taking a huge risk. It's a gamble to throw the youngster in at the deep end with his lack of experience, especially in what could be one of the club's most difficult matches of the season. Asking a player to sink-or-swim in a game like this could cause issues for his development if it doesn't work out.
Maffeo has been described as strong and tenacious, which would help him greatly in the hostile Crystal Palace environment. Should Alan Pardew see his name on City's teamsheet, though, he would surely be directing his players to attack down that flank at any opportunity. For that reason, Pellegrini could keep Jesus Navas in place ahead of new signing Kevin De Bruyne since the Spaniard has always done a good job in helping his full-back.
City will get very little sympathy for their injury problems given the size of their squad and summer spending of £160m, but it's in situations like this where the manager will really earn his wage. If Sagna isn't fit enough to line up against Crystal Palace, Pellegrini faces a very big decision indeed.