Neal Ardley feels Notts County's injured defensive trio are making progress in their bid to regain their fitness but has been unable to put a firm timescale on their return.
Ben Turner (calf), Alex Lacey (back) and Damien McCrory (knee) were all absent from Saturday's 2-0 victory over Ilkeston forcing Ardley to reshuffle his back four.
Right-back Richard Brindley had to play in the centre of defence as did left-back Adam Chicksen for part of the second half because Connell Rawlinson is the Magpies' only fit centre-half.
Ardley says he is seeing progress on Turner, Lacey and McCrory who were all key performers for Notts last season, but they are all likely to miss the FA Trophy semi-final clash against Harrogate a week on Wednesday.
"Ben Turner felt his calf when he was doing his work in the week leading up to coming back in training," he said.
"We need to get that settled down and Alex Lacey, on our first day of testing, felt a twinge in his back and he's just about getting back on the grass now.
"Ben's probably going to be out longer than that. They're both slow burners. Damien McCrory is making good progress from his knee op.
"He will have testing next Tuesday and if the strength is there then he can really ramp up training on Thursday.
"We are getting closer, but we are still light in that position."
