During what has been a largely dismal two years or so at Cardiff City, the green shoots of positivity have come from the emergence of talented youth products.
First there was Mark Harris, then Joel Bagan and Rubin Colwill. Isaak Davies, Oliver Denham and Eli King all shot through the ranks last season, too. Cardiff fans had seen nothing like it for a decade or more.
So, to see none of them really making any sort of impact recently, and the team's results improving without them, has raised a few eyebrows and questions among supporters. In fact, all of them, barring Denham, were sent to play in Cardiff under-21s' 4-2 win over Millwall on Tuesday.
Mark Harris has been selected the most consistently at first-team level out of the academy graduates this season. He has three goals in 29 appearances in all competitions. But the rest have had their struggles for one reason or another.
Colwill, Davies and Denham have struggled enormously with injuries this term. Colwill has played just 475 minutes of Championship football, meaning he has been on the pitch just 16 percent of the time this season.
Davies has made just five appearances, equating to just four-and-a-half percent of game time. Bagan has played just eight minutes in the Championship. Denham has zero appearances to his name and neither does Eli King, who spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Crewe.
It was thought these young players would have more of an influence on proceedings this season, instead their game time has been drastically slashed. Their injuries - particularly Colwill, Davies and Denham - have taken their toll, but even when fit they have struggled to impose themselves on matches.
Worryingly, none of them have been included in Sabri Lamouchi's last two matchday squads, the first games Cardiff have won since November 5.
With Rob Page about to select his Wales squad for the upcoming internationals against Croatia and Latvia next month, Harris and Colwill will be desperate to get back into the fold. However, a potential injury to Callum Robinson might facilitate that, while Callum O'Dowda's own fitness struggle could potentially pave a way back into the mix for Joel Bagan.
The next few months are crucial. Lamouchi is laser-focused and is unlikely to have youth development at the forefront of his mind, when the chief of his concerns is Championship survival.
His change in tack - the selection two big strikers, with Connor Wickham off the bench, and wing backs - is likely a concern for the academy graduates pushing through, given none of them really appear to slot into any of the roles Lamouchi favours. And if wins keep coming, then it's difficult to argue a case for their inclusion.
Lamouchi's favoured phrase is "aggression" and this new-look team over the last week or so appears to have brought that to the fore. While Harris has a bit of bite about him, the others need roughing up if they are to attain the levels the manager desires.
However, there is, of course, a bigger picture here. Cardiff have ploughed so much effort, time and money into the development of these talented youngsters, there must be a plan in place to ensure their development continues.
It is understandable Lamouchi is just focused on the three points at the weekend, but Sol Bamba, his assistant, will know how important youth development is to the club and the sustainability model it is hoping to implement more successfully in the coming years. It is why Bamba is attending the under-21s matches, keeping a close eye on the first-team fringe players.
Harris' contract is up at the end of the season. Reports always appear during transfer windows that clubs are looking at prising him away, so will that happen in the summer? He has 10 goals in 89 games for Cardiff, has earned a Wales call-up and went to the World Cup.
The forward showed he was head and shoulders above under-21s football on Tuesday with his brilliantly-taken solo goal to put City ahead against the Lions, skinning two defenders before rifling the ball across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. At 24 years of age, though, it's decision time for the club as to whether they want to invest.
Cardiff turned down bids from Burnley for Isaak Davies, so clearly see something there, while Colwill has long been tipped as the player with the highest ceiling. Have either of them progressed at the rate at which fans had expected? No. These two were expected to have the sort of impact Tommy Conway is having at Bristol City this season or Oli Cooper at Swansea. Injuries have plagued the Bluebirds duo, but there is nothing to suggest they cannot get back on track - if afforded the chance - so patience is needed.
Game time has been so thin on the ground for them both this season that they have struggled when afforded the opportunities. Colwill has appeared to try too hard - going for the wonder-pass or trying to take on too many players in order to justify his re-inclusion. Davies looked excellent against Leeds United in the first FA Cup game, but struggled to shine in his other outings.
Bagan is another whose contract expires in four months' time, what will his next step be? He had that blistering spell in the side a year ago - but was that the outlier rather than the norm? He has had fleeting chances, but, like his contemporaries, suffered awfully with poorly-timed injuries. Having a head knock just eight minutes into the Bristol City game, after Jamilu Collins' season-ending injury, was typical of his ill-fortune.
Every manager since Neil Warnock has spoken about Bagan's potential. A technically-sound, if risk averse, conventional left back, but the lack of presence or perhaps a tad of physicality has held him back somewhat. If he doesn't get a kick in the first team between now and the end of the campaign, has he warranted a new deal? All these questions will be coming to a head behind the scenes.
All four, at some stage, have shown quality at Championship level. But Lamouchi has deemed there to be 18 players better suited for the challenge in the last two matches. That must be lighting a fuse under them now.
Chances will come before the end of the season. Depending on Robinson's and O'Dowda's injuries, they may even come against Norwich City this weekend.
But there is no free pass into the side now. Cardiff's squad last season was threadbare and packed with players who knew their time at the club was coming to an end. It was easier, in many ways, to include the youngsters as a hiding to nothing once the threat of relegation was averted.
Now, though, the club needs them. They need them to fight for their places and impact games. There can be no passengers when what's at stake, a potential drop to League One, is so great. They may be called upon and they must stand up and be counted.
They all have the ability, and the potential, to do so, but it's getting to the season's crunch time and Lamouchi needs boots on the ground. He needs this potential to start turning into performances, consistently.
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