Idrissa Gueye has emerged as a serious doubt for Aston Villa's derby match with Leicester City on Sunday, after picking up an injury whilst away on international duty with Senegal.
The centre midfielder, who has started all of Villa's four Premier League fixtures so far this season, was substituted against Namibia with a hamstring problem, and saw his side see out a 2-0 win from the treatment table.
He was ruled out of Tuesday's African Cup of Nations qualifier against South Africa as a result, not even making the bench as Senegal lost 1-0 without him.
A scan will reveal the extent of the problem
It's believed that Gueye, who wears Gana on the back of his shirt, will now fly back to England to undergo a scan ahead of Sunday's game, which signifies the beginning of a run of three consecutive derby matches for Villa, with them facing West Brom and Birmingham City after Leicester.
Gueye will hope to make the squad for the Leicester game, but even if he does, a place in the starting 11 is extremely unlikely. A more realistic scenario would be him missing out this weekend, facing a layoff of around 10 days.
If the scan reveals the problem to be more serious than first thought, he may miss all of the derby matches, and aim for a return against Liverpool towards the end of the month.
How would they replace him?
The midfielder had made an impressive start to his Villa career after a £9million move from Lille early in the transfer window, replacing the outgoing Fabian Delph in the heart of Villa's midfield.
His box-to-box style of play, combined with a strong ability to tackle and pass has quickly made him something of a fans favourite.
Despite Ashley Westwood, Jordan Veretout and Carlos Sanchez being rotated in the opening fixtures, Gueye has been a mainstay in the side, meaning Sherwood will have a selection headache, should he miss out against Leicester.
The likely change would be to go with a midfield three of Sanchez, Westwood and Veretout, however Carles Gil could slot in as the most advanced of the three, in his bid to return to first team football following injury.