Jürgen Klopp admitted that he may be forced to look into the transfer market for a centre-back given the ongoing injury crisis at Liverpool that has depleted his defensive options.
With Joe Gomez out for the season with a cruciate ligament problem and Martin Skrtel currently out with a hamstring strain, Mamadou Sakho was ruled out of the Reds' 1-0 Capital One Cup semi-final first-leg win over Stoke City with a knee injury.
And Klopp's options were restricted further after Dejan Lovren was forced off just half-an-hour into the win over the Potters before Kolo Touré appeared to suffer from cramp in the final minutes of the game.
If Touré's injury is serious it could mean Klopp's charges are forced to travel to Exeter City on Friday night without a fit senior centre-back available.
Klopp admits defensive signings are a possibility with no fit centre-backs
Speaking after the victory at the Britannia Stadium on Tuesday night, he admitted that: "In this situation with no centre-backs fit, I would say [transfers] is something we could look at."
He explained that only two weeks ago they had three fit centre halves, which was a "good situation" despite having started the season with five including summer signing Joe Gomez.
The manager added that they are "normal injuries" and that "in pre-season they are still in the race and can cope in this intensity."
With the injuries severely hampering his defensive choices, he acknowledged that the Reds "could wave a white flag and say no team versus Stoke" but insisted "that's not possible." He said that they "tried everything" but said "the boys did well" to win.
The injuries sustained against the Potters took their tally of players out up to 11, with Klopp unsure of whether Touré's issue is serious enough to rule him out of Friday's FA Cup trip to Exeter.
With five first-team players and also young midfielder Jordan Rossiter now all out with hamstring injuries, which have increased in frequency since Klopp's arrival, he admitted that they cannot ignore how many hamstring-related problems they are suffering.
The German insisted that they "can't ignore the injuries" and said that whilst he doesn't know "how serious they are" they don't "look too good" and they "have to wait" for assessment.
Boss refuses to ignore growing number of hamstring injuries
With such a taxing fixture schedule, Klopp said that they "don't train" at the minute and can "only recover" because of "the situation" that they face.
Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge are both currently sidelined with hamstring problems, whilst James Milner made his return from a similar complaint in the Potteries.
Asked whether the amount of similar problems he has encountered recently would affect his training regimes, Klopp replied that he is "responsible for these things" and they "have to see what we can do after this game."
He acknowledged that "three [hamstring injuries] on one side" in one game is "strange" but insisted they "played well and won the game" as they responded to the early setbacks.
Overall however, Klopp said he was pleased with the performance and the one-goal advantage they take from the first-leg into the second tie on Merseyside in three weeks' time.
Whilst he insisted that "nothing is decided" after the first-leg, he said that "1-0 is important" because he "would have taken it" had someone told him they would draw beforehand.
He added that when his team "are fresh in mind, they are strong" and called the game a "very intense" one "for both teams" but insisted it is "a problem" that they "don't see the perfect position a player is in."