One thing Carlo Ancelotti certainly will not have wanted to see in Everton's final pre-season match of the summer was an injury.
Unfortunately, the issue eventually came to one of the most important players in the squad.
Mason Holgate has fashioned himself into a key figure since the Italian's arrival at Goodison Park and was establishing himself as a real leader in defence.
And the match against Preston North End started in much the same fashion. With the 23-year-old in fact the oldest out of all the back four, he took it upon himself to marshal those around him once more.
But things took a turn for the worse about half an hour into the first half as Holgate went down after trying to retrieve a loose ball in the centre of the pitch.
Clearly in a lot of pain, the centre-back hobbled off the pitch gingerly to be replaced by youngster Kyle John – with just over a week before Everton's Premier League opener against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend.
This may well give the boss something to consider with a bit of time still remaining in the transfer window.
Yerry Mina is continuing to recover from his own issue and was missing from this match. Jarrad Branthwaite, the ECHO understands, picked up a slight knock which thankfully isn't a serious problem.
With Michael Keane away on international duty though, it left Everton's options at centre-back looking incredibly thin by the time Holgate went off injured.
Of course this won't be the case throughout the campaign as international football won't keep players out of Ancelotti's squad very often.
But now that Everton are on the verge of sorting their most concerning area of the squad with Allan already signed and the addition of Abdoulaye Doucoure believed to be soon to follow, is it time to assess another aspect?
Of course, at the time of writing, it's not yet known how serious Holgate's problem is. But his absence in the second half highlighted once again a problem that could rear up once more.
Lewis Gibson performed admirably in the second period, as did Jonjoe Kenny in stepping into an unfamiliar role in the centre of defence.
But will the former be sent out on loan once more? If he wasn't there for this match, the Blues back four would have looked even more of a mishmash than it already did.
Again, it must be stated that the problem of course may not be this bad again. Perhaps Mina and Keane will return injury free next week and will stay that way for the foreseeable future.
But football is a funny game. This has shown Ancelotti what could potentially happen in the very worst of circumstances in the future.
Are Everton prepared enough in central defence? Their actions in the transfer market over the next few weeks might tell us exactly that.
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