Lee Carsley could see up to seven stars pull out of his England squad for crucial upcoming Nations League matches.
The interim boss is preparing to lead the senior squad into matches against Greece and Ireland, in his final camp before handing over the reins to Thomas Tuchel, who begins duties in January.
But injuries to a number of key players during the last few days of domestic action could see almost an entire roster's worth of talent miss the crunch matches.
Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice limped out of their side's 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday. Rice had been playing with a broken toe and was withdrawn by Mikel Arteta in the 71st minute. The Gunners boss later told reporters that the injuries 'don't look good.'
Cole Palmer, meanwhile, passed a late fitness test to feature in the Stamford Bridge clash but looked some way short of his best.
Elsewhere, Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has starred under Carsley, was forced off in the first half of the Reds' 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday night. The 25-year-old suffered a suspected hamstring injury.
Furthermore, Manchester City pair Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish, Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke and Newcastle's Anthony Gordon are also doubts for the squad.
Walker has played while not fully fit in City's last two Premier League outings, whereas Grealish has been out since October 20 and only returned to light training last week.
His surprise inclusion left Pep Guardiola bemused and the City boss made his frustrations known after Carsley announced his squad on Thursday.
'Jack trained today and believes he can help us — I'm not the guy to say you cannot go (on international duty).' He said. 'But for my team, he's not fit. He cannot play.
'All I can say is that for a couple of days over two weeks he didn't train but the people from England believe he can help them. So go.' Guardiola added sarcastically: 'The manager from the UK knows better than me.'
On Sunday in the capital, Solanke took a knock to the knee during Spurs' shock 2-1 defeat to Ipswich Town. The former Bournemouth striker was able to complete the match and Ange Postecoglou said he was hopeful the injury is not serious.
'He just got a bit of a knock.' The Australian said after his side slipped to 10th in the table. 'Dom jarred his knee, it was pretty sore but he wanted to continue. Hopefully it is nothing serious.'
However, Magpies winger Gordon could be set for a longer spell on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of the hip injury that was troubling him last month.
The 23-year-old hobbled off in the final 10 minutes of Newcastle's 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday. When Magpies boss Eddie Howe was asked whether he expected the forward to be withdrawn from the Three Lions squad he replied: 'Because he had to come off, I would say yes.'
Incoming manager Tuchel officially starts work on January 1 and Mail Sport revealed on Tuesday that he would have no influence on Carsley’s squad selection for this week's games.
The Under 21 manager took the chance to hand two England players their maiden call-ups before he returns to the junior set-up. They include Southampton centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall.
Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones is in line to make his senior debut after his inclusion.
England head to the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Thursday to face Greece, who have a three-point cushion over them at the top of Group B2. The international year ends with the Wembley showdown against Ireland - the nation Carsley represented as a player - three days later.