Southampton have been rather fortunate with injury knocks this season, with Tonda Eckert's men often brushing untimely knocks to one side, with ease.
Indeed, in March, the Saints didn't let the gutting blow of Leo Scienza being injured derail their ongoing promotion bid, with three hard-fought wins picked up on the bounce, even with their seven-goal star man being sidelined.
This month, as well, the promotion chasers had to make do without the heroics of Finn Azaz for a single home clash against Blackburn Rovers, with the Irishman dazzling even brighter than the ex-Heidenheim attacker this campaign, with 11 goals next to his name in the Championship.
A 3-0 victory was still secured comfortably against the Riversiders, and Eckert might have to make do without Jack Stephens for the Saints' approaching FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City and beyond, which is another blow the South Coast side are going to have to navigate.
Southampton's sudden loss of Stephens
Only starting 17 games last season in the Premier League, it looked as if Stephens' end days at St. Mary's were near.
Indeed, at 32 years of age, it did appear as if the long-standing Saints servant had given all he could to the cause.
Yet, this season, he's bounced back from the misery of relegation in style, with 30 starts across Southampton's 44 league games and counting, with a commendable nine clean sheets collected along the way.
Losing Stephens in the warm-up for the 2-2 draw with Bristol City would have been an unwanted setback; therefore, with Nathan Wood having to shakily come back into the starting XI.
Last starting a league game for the South Coast outfit in the middle of January, Wood looked understandably rusty against the Robins, with a worry that the ropey number 15 will suffer even more when potentially facing the likes of Erling Haaland at Wembley.
It would be an untimely shock to the system if Stephens was unable to feature against City, with the loss of the loyal servant - who has been at the club since lining up for the U21s - possibly damaging the Saints in the promotion run-in to come, depending on the severity of his injury.
Losing Stephens could harm Southampton's promotion chances
Eckert was rather tight-lipped about the Cornwall-born colossus' injury, after the dust had settled on the 2-2 draw with Roy Hodgson's men.
He did confirm that the 32-year-old was suffering from a calf problem, when stating post-match: "I just heard before the game that he struggled a little bit with his calf towards the end of the warm-up, so we made a late change.”
It really is up in the air as to how long Stephens will be out the team for, with Eckert likely having to work with Wood again for games to come.
The ex-Swansea City battler did feature against Arsenal, in his defence, as Southampton shocked the footballing world with a 2-1 victory against the heavily fancied Gunners, in the quarter-final stages.
Therefore, like Southampton managed to do without Scienza and Azaz briefly, they will have to put on a brave face again, hoping that their dependable servant is back sooner, rather than later.
He does have a worrying track record with calf problems, though, with 22 games missed over the last two seasons, due to recurring niggles.
Consequently, Eckert will be pushed to utilise his full squad, again, as crunch games keep flooding the South Coast team's calendar.
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