By the time Manchester United take to the field at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon in just under four weeks, Ruben Amorim will hope to have a much stronger squad available to pick from.
United reached the Europa League quarter-finals with six of their 10 substitutes still yet to make their debuts for the club, while Ayden Heaven was making his first start in professional football - not that you would have known it.
Amorim is still without 10 players through injury, but with a gap coming up before that last-eight showdown with Lyon, he will expect to have a few back for another crucial Thursday night assignment.
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Lisandro Martinez and Amad are out for the rest of the season and Luke Shaw is still working his way back to fitness, but Leny Yoro should be back after the international break, and Kobbie Mainoo will hope to be closer to action then as well.
The first faces to return could come as soon as Sunday night, with Harry Maguire and Mason Mount both potentially available for the trip to the King Power Stadium. While Maguire has only missed a couple of weeks it's been another long spell on the sidelines for £60million midfielder Mount.
He was last seen limping off at the Etihad early in United's mid-December derby win against Manchester City, injury ending a sense of momentum he had started to generate under Amorim. Mount won't start against Leicester City, but he could feature off the bench and add to his 33 appearances for the club in almost two seasons.
Amorim's admiration for the 26-year-old remains clear. He was enthused by Mount from his first training sessions at Carrington, and when he was asked about him ahead of this weekend's game, he said: "I really love Mason Mount," adding that "just five minutes of Mason Mount is perfect."
Mount's injury record since moving from Chelsea frustrates United supporters, but his availability was always good at Stamford Bridge. Since that switch to Old Trafford, he has picked up four muscular injuries and missed more than 50 games.
But there is no sense that he is now doing anything wrong or has become injury-prone. Amorim explained this week how the England international has actually done everything right.
"I see him and know how he suffered. I know how he does everything right - he eats right, his physical aspect is perfect," he said. "He’s trying too much. Maybe he is thinking too much about everything.
"He was European champion, he is a talent. When a player does everything like he does, he will always have the support of everybody here at the club.
"We will try to manage the load. You saw players who had a lot of problems in time but they can then stay fit and I believe a lot in Mason Mount. We need players like Mason Mount."
Mount was in the best form of his United career before the injury against City, and you can tell from the way Amorim speaks about him that he still has a pivotal role to play here. He is a natural fit for one of the No. 10 berths in the Portuguese's 3-4-2-1 system, even if he is now rarely talked about as a candidate for those positions since his latest injury.
Amorim will certainly be careful with Mount on this return, but he has three Premier League games to ease his way back in, ready to face Lyon in France and then back at Old Trafford a week later.
Mount has plenty of experience in European football and, as Amorim points out, is a Champions League winner. He has the quality on the ball, the energy, and the intelligence to thrive as an attacking midfielder. Mount, Bruno Fernandes, Manuel Ugarte, and Casemiro are four high-class options for the midfield roler that would give United an edge in their attempt to win the Europa League.
That quartet, with the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee also involved, have the ability to control games in Europe. That is an ingredient needed if United are to see off Lyon and then either Rangers or Athletic Bilbao.
Amorim's team raised their level against Real Sociedad in the last-16. That was a performance that suggested they have a real chance in this competition. If Mount can return to fitness and find that form he was showing three months ago, then he will only strengthen United's chances of silverware and a backdoor route into the Champions League.
