Ollie Clarke and Ryan Tafazolli are both the cure and cause of many headaches for Swindon Town as they play the first three-match week of the season.
The League Two season will begin to pick up pace from this week, as Swindon travel to Oldham, before playing host to Port Vale and Colchester United in the next eight days.
This will pose issues for Ian Holloway, as he was already having to manage the minutes of a large number of his squad, and doing so across a series of games without long to recover.
He said: “If you saw the piece of paper I was given by my physio, oh my goodness me, you've got to be a mathematical genius to work it out.
“Not only have I got to see how the game's going, but I've got to also try and make sure that I plan that so I don't get any of these lads injured and they have the right amount of minutes.”
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The biggest quandary is going to be with Clarke and Tafazolli, who were both taken off after an hour against Cheltenham Town, and are still not capable of playing for a full 90 minutes.
Both players struggled with injury problems throughout last season, and Swindon know that they will have to manage them to make sure that they can be available for as long as possible, as it was often a struggle without those two experienced heads last term.
Taking the pair off at the same time contributed to a nervy ending for Town against Cheltenham, with the away side having six shots in the first hour, before having eight in the last 30 minutes.
Holloway said: “What killed me on was Saturday; I wanted two clean sheets. And that goal was too soft, in my opinion. Billy got his shoulders wrong; he was exceptional, but he got his shoulders wrong. The bloke slipped over, hit it like that, and it went in the top corner.
“That caused us chaos because I had to bring off my captain and my vice-captain, almost - he's not technically, but Taf.
“Without those two in League Two, what's it going to be like? They're both old-ish. They're both prone to having knocks a bit. And I've got to live without them as well.
“Over three games in a week, can I play them every game? Our survey says, no.”
This puzzle is one that Holloway is going to have to solve as he looks to balance the rest of his squad across the next week.
With three matches to get through in quick succession and the pair still coming up to full fitness, it seems likely that Holloway will look to split the two to ensure that at least one of them is on the pitch at all times.
Clarke and Tafazolli are the key leaders within the Swindon squad, and keeping them fit will be crucial if they are to sustain a promotion challenge.
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