Burnley have this afternoon been dealt a potentially costly blow on the personnel front, amid the club's meeting with Aston Villa.
The player forced into a premature departure from proceedings? James Tarkowski.
Stopper Tarkowski was, as expected, in from the off on Saturday, joining Nathan Collins at the heart of defence as Mike Jackson's relegation-battling Clarets made the trip to Villa Park.
Early in the 2nd-half, however, disaster struck, as Burnley's captain was forced to limp out of proceedings.
Tarkowski appeared to pick up a muscular problem of some sort, leaving him with little choice but to make way for Kevin Long, ahead of a potential spell on the sidelines over the weeks ahead.
Villans cruising
Tarkowski's injury, though, actually marks just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the woes facing Burnley thus far at Villa Park.
In addition, the day's visitors look well on their way to a damaging, and altogether deserved defeat.
A dismal display in the Midlands currently sees Mike Jackson's men trailing by three goals to nil, owing to strikes on the part of all of Danny Ings, Emi Buendia and Ollie Watkins.
Should Burnley, in turn, fail to turn things around courtesy of a frankly unlikely comeback over the remainder of the 2nd-half, they will remain in 16th in the Premier League table, with both Leeds (1) and Everton (2) directly below them in possession of crucial games in hand.
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