Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson has been ruled out for “four to five weeks” with a thigh injury.
Second-choice Wayne Hennessey will start against Bournemouth in the league on Saturday (15:00 GMT), but Forest could turn to the transfer market.
“It is certainly a discussion point,” said manager Steve Cooper.
He added: “We have two League Cup games (against Manchester United) that Dean wouldn’t have played in anyway because of the loan ruling so we were always planning without him for those games.
“We need to get this weekend out of the way and see where we’re at after that.
“Dean is going to be out for four to five weeks, which is obviously a blow for all of us, especially him, but these things happen and we carry on with our work and will support Dean to get fit as quickly as possible.”
Jordan Smith, 28, and 22-year-old Adnan Kanuric are other goalkeeping alternatives in the Forest squad.
