Theo Strang is Bristol Bears only remaining specialist scrum-half with Toby Venner requiring surgery for an ACL and Max Green suffering a fresh injury, meaning utility man Ioan Lloyd may have to play the role of replacement No9 for the visit of Wasps.
Venner was signed last week on a short-term deal from Gloucester to cover for injuries to Andy Uren, Tom Whiteley and Harry Randall being away with the England team for the Six Nations.
However, after an eye-catching cameo in the second half against Worcester, he left the field with a knee injury which has subsequently been confirmed as an ACL, with the 24-year-old requiring an operation. Fellow loanee Green, meanwhile, complained of a wrist injury in training on Monday, leaving director of rugby Pat Lam's options thin on the ground.
Strang started the defeat at Worcester and will almost certainly take that role again for Friday's game at Ashton Gate but the only other alternative is utility back Lloyd, who finished the match at Sixways Stadium in the No9 position having not really played there since schooldays.
"He's done his ACL, there's some damage on his knee," Lam said, of Venner. "It's a significant injury. We started off after our Scarlets game: first week, Harry Randall goes to England for a couple of months for the Six Nations which is awesome and he's doing really well.
"The second week then was followed by Andy Uren out for 12 weeks. The third week then after that was followed by Tom Whiteley out for the season; the fourth week is now Toby Venner, who we brought in as a replacement.
"Then we have Max Green, who trained really well yesterday, and we were just talking about the quality of the player, but at the end he complained about his wrist so he's gone for a scan and we're waiting news on that.
"You expect injuries but you certainly don't expect them in the same position, but that's just the challenge we have to face.
"We finished the game with Ioan having to go into nine for 12 minutes and he did a reasonable job. The way it looks at the moment with a short turnaround to Friday is that he'll probably have cover nine again this week.
"I'm used to this number of injuries but it's usually spread out over a season and spread out across positions. To get hit in three key positions (scrum-half, full-back and tighthead) at the same time is probably the biggest challenge that we face but that's what challenges are for."
Lloyd has been training this week with the half-backs to prepare him for his additional role on Friday, although he's likely to be required at No10 as Callum Sheedy returns to the Wales camp. Lam admits the 20-year-old "put his hand up" in declaring he's happy to move into the auxiliary position for one week only as academy scrum-half Oscar Lennon will likely be recalled next week from Hartpury to further boost the ranks.
Lam also confirmed that John Afoa (leg strain) is out, while Steven Luatua will likely be a late decision as the loose forward's calf issue needs to be managed correctly and may not cope with two games on the bounce. There is slightly better news regarding centre Piers O'Conor who is dealing with an ankle sprain and isn't a long-term absentee but could miss Friday's encounter.
"He (Steven) has a troublesome calf that we manage during the week, so at this stage, there's only a certain period of time that he can play so it all depends on the symptoms. He's important but also we have to make sure we don't blow his calf," Lam added.
