Daniel Farke has had easier weeks as Norwich City boss. But there is a huge game to be won at Bristol City.
Farke's planning for a testing trip to the Robins had to contend with the unwanted distraction of Alex Pritchard's Premier League transfer saga, weighing up the pros and cons of allowing Yanic Wildschut out of the building, and now fresh injury woes.
The German may be thankful for the respite of 90 minutes prowling the touchline at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
'It is a tough week. You can see how quick momentum can shift,' he said.
'After Chelsea we are in the top half, we play a brilliant cup game and we were more like the team of the moment.
'You really feel if we come back from Bristol with some points maybe we are really back in the mix.
'Now, to be honest, after a hard week with injury problems and the selling of Alex and loan of Yanic the momentum can change. Our target is to go back to football and focus on that.
'We know this is a tricky game now. I have always said as long as we can find 11 players to wear the yellow shirt we will be okay, and we have.
'We need to replace some important players but I trust my lads and we are competitive and we can bring points from Bristol.
'It is not the easiest task but we aim for a fifth game unbeaten.'
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Tom Trybull is the latest casualty, with a back complaint suffered against the Blues that has failed to respond to treatment.
'He had some problems after the last game and in the last few days, even worse,' said Farke.
'We didn't expect it would be this bad at the start of the week. 'He trained with us on Thursday but his back got worse in the afternoon and on Friday morning when he woke up he wasn't even able to walk. I watched how he stepped into his car on Friday and he needed about a minute before he could sit down.
'It made me feel a bit younger.
'Tom was brilliant in the last few games and we hope he can return soon. We all know with backs they can recover in two or three days.'
Farke accepts City can not afford to carry passengers against a Bristol City who ran mighty Manchester City close in a midweek League Cup semi-final, first leg 2-1 defeat.
They could have a lot of self-confidence after such a good performance at Manchester City but also the recent games in the league were no so positive,' he said. 'They had two defeats in a row, so that brings pressure to pick up points at home because they are in a great position and one of the teams of the season.
'They will be highly motivated to turn things around.'
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