If there is a silver lining to Ange Postecoglou's relentless selection headaches, it is the opportunity for every member of his Tottenham squad to get a chance to make their case.
Since his players started dropping to injuries and suspensions, Postecoglou has had to get creative to keep Spurs competitive.
The Australian has used four makeshift centre-backs since first-choice pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven went off against Chelsea - the former red carded, the latter injured - on November 6, and one, in particular, left-back Ben Davies, has emerged as a reliable understudy.
Davies is getting better with every game, to the point where it has genuinely been possible to wonder if he has spent most of his career playing out of position.
Postecoglou has also tried a variety of solutions to add spark to his side since losing playmaker James Maddison to an ankle injury, also against Chelsea, and Giovani Lo Celso has risen to become a valuable squad member, scoring in consecutive games, while Dejan Kulusevski is excelling centrally.
Now, Postecoglou's attentions turn to the heart of midfield, with Yves Bissouma banned for the next four matches before the Malian and Senegal's Pape Matar Sarr leave for the Africa Cup of Nations in January. Maddison is not expected back until some time in the New Year, while Rodrigo Bentancur is out until February.
Step forward Oliver Skipp.
The former England Under-21 international has started just two games under Postecoglou: the 2-2 draw at Brentford on the opening day of the season and the flat Carabao Cup third-round defeat to Fulham in the same month.
He has made a further 11 appearances from the bench, including an hour at Nottingham Forest on Friday night as a first-half concussion substitute for Brennan Johnson.
It has been a difficult two years for Skipp. He was a valued player for Antonio Conte in the first few months of the Italian's tenure, but was sidelined from January 2022 with a long-term pelvic problem and, by the time he was fit again, Spurs had signed Bentancur and Bissouma, and Sarr had returned from loan.
In common with every Spurs player bar Harry Kane, Skipp struggled for rhythm last season as Conte's dismal tenure unravelled, but made 23 Premier League appearances.
He had his moments, especially a thunderous strike in the 2-0 home win over Chelsea in February and an encouraging display alongside Sarr at the San Siro, as a depleted Spurs lost 1-0 to AC Milan in the Champions League knockouts.
Skipp was also part of England U-21's successful European Championship, albeit largely as a closer from the bench for the final 10 or 20 minutes of games.
Conte and Jose Mourinho plainly valued Skipp - both describing him at one point as "Tottenham's future" - but the appointment of Postecoglou felt like it could finally be the making of the 23-year-old; over his injury problems and with a chance to kick on under a progressive coach who trusts young players.
The early signs were encouraging, Skipp scoring twice in the friendly at Barcelona on the eve of the season and starting at Brentford, but since then he has felt like the forgotten man, even if it has been easy to understand why Postecoglou prefers the dynamism of Sarr and Bissouma, plus the experience of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to help see out games.
But with Spurs's midfield now down the bare bones over the festive fixtures - Lo Celso is also a doubt for Saturday's visit of Everton - Skipp should get a chance to impress, and with it the opportunity to prove he can still be the future of the club, as Postecoglou's predecessors once predicted.
