Manchester United duo Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez could be missing for several months.
United had hoped to get Casemiro back in the coming games, with the Brazilian suffering a hamstring injury against Newcastle United.
However, he could be out until the New Year, while Martinez's ankle injury may have a similar healing time.
"I have some time schedules, yeah, but it's always difficult to predict that because they can get setbacks during the rehab period so I'm always holding back a little bit on some issues," manager Erik Ten Hag said to reporters this week.
"I expect some back but Casemiro and Martinez are really strong injuries and I don't expect them back before Christmas. It's several weeks."
United also have Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia as long term absentees in defense.
