Senegal are down to the bare bones in defence ahead of their friendly with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday after captain Cheikhou Kouyate withdrew from the squad due to illness.
The Lions of Teranga meet the Eastern Europeans in an international friendly in Le Havre, France at 20:00 CAT on Tuesday, with the match live on Kwesé Free Sports .
The fixture offers the West Africans the opportunity to bounce back from their underwhelming friendly draw against Uzbekistan on Friday, as the Lions managed only a 1-1 stalemate after Pape Moussa Konate cancelled out Otabek Shukurov's first-half penalty.
However, coach Aliou Cisse is having to contend with a series of key absentees, and has been deprived of another major defensive talent following the withdrawal of Kouyate.
The skipper missed the Uzbekistan game after suffering from abdominal pains, according to Le Quotidien, and returned back to England on Sunday evening after failing to recover.
Cisse had hoped that Kouyate would be fit enough to make a return for Tuesday's showdown, but is unwilling to risk the stopper after he failed to recover in time.
It's another setback for Senegal during a gruelling international week, in which the Lions have also lost anchor man Idrissa Gueye.
The Everton man withdrew from the squad ahead of the Uzbekistan game due to a muscle injury, which will likely keep him out of action for three weeks.
The injury is unlikely to affect Gana's World Cup participation, although it denies him valuable playing time alongside his international teammates, with opportunities set to be few and far between before June's kick off.
Despite falling below his own standards during a testing season at Goodison Park this term, the defensive midfielder remains one of the Premier League's most effective players in his position this term, having averaged 3.7 tackles per match so far this season -- second only to Leicester City's Wilfred Ndidi.
Most concerning, perhaps, is the absence of Kara Mbodji, who's yet to return to action and is still recuperating in Spain following a knee operation in December.
The Anderlecht star is a vital physical presence in the spine of the Lions' team, but his club coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck has already expressed concern at the defender's slow recovery rate.
Left-back Saliou Ciss is another player whose injury concerns have limited his international participation during the ongoing international break, although with Senegal able to call upon Pape Souare, Armand Traore and Adama Mbengue, the Angers full-back's absence is the least of Cisse's concerns.
Senegal begin their World Cup campaign against Poland in Moscow on June 19. They then meet Japan in Yekaterinburg on June 24, before concluding their group-stage campaign against Colombia four days later.