Melbourne Heart's month of woe went from bad to worse on Tuesday after stand-in captain Matt Thompson was ruled out for up to four weeks with a sprained knee.
Thompson was subbed off in the second half of their 3-1 loss to the Phoenix in Wellington on Sunday and scans have since revealed the extent of the damage.
The loss of Thompson has further deepened the Heart's personnel crisis which sees skipper Fred (groin) still unavailable for at least a fortnight while Mate Dugandzic, Aziz Behich and Jason Hoffman will be unavailable for the next four matches due to Olyroos commitments.
Heading into the match against Wellington, Heart coach John van 't Schip admitted his team would be left exposed by any more casualties.
"I'm confident we have players that can fill in and we are getting players back," van 't Schip said.
"We can manage well. Of course, within that if then something happens we don't have that much depth after that anymore."
"So we have to be careful that the players that we have here, that we keep them fit."
The news couldn't have come at a worse time for the Heart as they aim to snap a six-match winless run in the Melbourne derby against bitter foes the Victory on Saturday at AAMI Park.
After starting the New Year in second spot on the ladder, the Heart have only managed to add two premiership points to their tally and slid down to fifth.
But in some positive news for van 't Schip's men, Wayne Srhoj looks set to return for the derby after recovering from a quad injury.