Throughout the campaign, selection issues have often dogged Everton to varying degrees. And that's already something that Frank Lampard has experienced to certain extents during his brief spell at the helm.
Losing two crucial centre-backs in Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina in his first two matches in charge was certainly not ideal. Being without the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Demarai Gray on occasion has not helped either.
But, heading into a clash with Crystal Palace in the quarter final of the FA Cup this weekend, it's problems in the midfield which will be catching the eye. And the solution to them isn't exactly straightforward.
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Everton will be without Allan at Selhurst Park after his red card against Newcastle United, following his challenge on Allan Saint-Maximin being changed from an initial yellow card after a VAR review. The Blues' appeals against the decision on Friday were unsuccessful, meaning the Brazilian will miss three matches.
The FA Cup also brings something of a unique problem for Lampard as he is without two of his January signings in the centre of the park. Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek are both cup-tied, but the latter is still suffering from illness and would have been ruled out of this match anyway.
Add to that the absences of Tom Davies and Fabian Delph through injury, and Everton's options in that area of the pitch are starting to look rather thin on the ground. Abdoluaye Doucoure and Andre Gomes are the only fit senior players who you would realistically describe as out-and-out central midfielders.
However, Lampard is already looking ahead to his options. And, he's not ruling out making some interesting calls if he needs to, but will even be without Tyler Onyango as he continues to recover from an injury.
He said on Friday: "He (Onyango) has had a small operation on his hernia. Isaac Price has been with us and trained really well with us, he'll be part of the squad.
"You can't forget Andre, he hasn't played so many minutes lately but he's a talented player for us. Doucoure's there, players that can do a job for us in midfield - certain players in the back line have played in midfield, Andros Townsend, Alex Iwobi.
"We're definitely in a position now where we are tighter for numbers, so it could affect how we set up in the game. I've got another 24 hours or so to see that."
Limited options, certainly not ideal scenarios. But, Lampard has clearly thought ahead and has a structure in place for what he wants to achieve when his side travel to face Crystal Palace.
In an ideal world, a lot of supporters would want to see a three-man midfield for this match, even with only a small selection of midfielders to choose from. Too often over the course of the campaign, even before the current manager was in place, they've seen their side overrun in the centre of the park.
Take their league game against Palace in December, for example. Everton had just beaten Arsenal with a rousing late performance, thanks in no small part to the introduction of Gomes from the bench to line up in a 4-3-3 style for the last portion of the match.
Fast-forward a couple of days to the game at Selhurst, however, and the Portuguese midfielder was actually utilised as more of a No.10 - with the Blues looking worse for it. Both Delph and Doucoure played behind him, but the system clearly was not right and Conor Gallagher particularly had the running of that match.
Lampard will no doubt have had time to assess that match and see where Everton's weaknesses were. Unfortunately, you'd have thought that Allan would have been firmly in his plans before the events of Thursday.
There isn't anyone who can naturally fill the exact qualities that the Brazilian gives to the Blues side, especially when he's in the kind of form he was against Newcastle. But, the manager's earlier comments give an interesting hint to where his thinking might lie.
The return of Ben Godfrey to full fitness could perhaps allow a centre-back to step forward and act as a defensive midfielder, effectively giving some freedom for both Gomes and Doucoure to roam a little further up the pitch.
The former Norwich man himself has played that role before, but Mason Holgate might seem the more natural fit in that circumstance. He filled that position well when Everton travelled to Manchester United particularly under Duncan Ferguson's first interim spell.
But, what if the boss wants to go a little more attacking? The options of Townsend and Iwobi that he mentioned clearly are viable if they were to play further forwards in a midfield three - leaving Doucoure as the man to sit in front of the back line.
That's something the French midfielder can clearly accomplish, but are his best talents somewhat wasted in that role? It's yet to be seen whether Lampard would go down that route.
It seems unlikely that Price would be handed a full debut given his lack of experience at this level, but who knows how much he has been impressing in training? A natural box-to-box midfielder, that again could maybe see Doucoure sitting back - unless the youngster himself was trusted in that role.
The alternative would see Lampard lining up with a formation that has only two central midfielders in it, whether that means a back five or defensive four behind them would then be the big debate. Given the space that often appears in the centre of the pitch when Everton are outnumbered in that area, then perhaps having three central defenders would seem the best bet.
But, so often this season, Blues matches seem to have been won and lost by what they have been able to achieve in central midfield. Home and away form has been a factor, but that general area of play is something the squad haven't really been able to crack.
Lampard faces a very interesting conundrum if he is going to try and solve that issue at Selhurst Park. What is going to be the best way for him to win this crucial, one-off tie?
