Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has dealt expertly with all challenges placed in front of him since arriving on Tyneside, but is now facing his biggest at the worst possible time.
Howe will know plenty outside St James' Park will be reaching for the world's smallest violin to play any tunes of sympathy after Newcastle's revival under Saudi Arabian ownership led them into this season's Champions League.
Sympathy from outsiders will not be in short supply. It will be non-existent. Howe will know that, so will not bother asking for any.
There is no getting away, however, from the fact he has been hit by a devastating list of injuries as Newcastle try to keep their Champions League hopes alive when AC Milan arrive on Wednesday night and with a big EFL Cup quarter-final at Chelsea on the horizon.