Mikel Arteta is expected to name a tenth different defensive combination against Monaco – just four months after a season he previously admitted was an injury nightmare.
And for a manager who so often values the importance of players knowing each other's nuances, the prospect of sending out another unknown backline would normally be a cause for frustration.
Yet the seven-man injury list, with six players capable of playing at full-back, has now reached a stage where Arteta is starting to accept it as a challenge rather than rail against charity.
“It is what it is,” he said. “The good thing is that the team is not conditioned in such a way that we have to become a different team. I'm very happy with that, the way the team is adapting and the way players are making the effort to play in different positions.”
But whoever starts on the left and right of the defense against a Monaco side with their own defensive absentees to contend with looks like a lucky dip.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain permanently absent and Arteta was generally coy when asked whether any of the other five who missed yesterday's training could be brought through fit.
Some, he hinted, will be given every opportunity to prove their suitability. The risk of a problem getting worse also means he needs to be careful.
Arteta expects a lot from his full-backs, expecting them to cover more ground than any other position and often act as inverted midfielders.
And when it was put to him that these demands could be a contributing factor to the high rate of muscle injuries for a specific part of his squad, the short answer was simply: “I don't know.”
He added: “It depends on two factors: tactically and in relation to what we do, who we release in the high press and what they have to do in terms of attack. But it is certainly different from playing as a midfielder. That is not ideal, but we try to deal with it.”
Captain Martin Odegaard suffered his own injury problems earlier this season, but he is now fighting fit and has been further supported by becoming a father last week.
And Odegaard, who says he continues to get enough sleep thanks to his wife Helene, said: 'Having a baby is the greatest gift, the most beautiful thing in life.
“That takes your mind off everything else at that moment. It is important to switch off when you get home.
“It's only been a week but so far so good and my wife is really great and doing a great job. I'm really lucky to have her, you know.'
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