The Sheffield Wednesday selection dilemma taken out of Henrik Pedersen's hands
After Joe Lumley's Sheffield Wednesday debut against Middlesbrough in midweek, it ought to have been the big talking point ahead of Saturday's Championship visit of Oxford United: who would start in goal?
As it is, though, the rulebook means the Owls have no choice in the matter.
Lumley joined on a seven-day emergency loan after Ethan Horvath's late red card in the 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic.
That brought with it a one-match suspension, meaning the American is available to face the Us.
But the best he can hope for is a place on the bench.
Lumley conceded a goal within minutes of Wednesday's game against his former club – not that he was to blame for it. But he was very fortunate not to concede a penalty when he fouled Tommy Conway in the area late in the first half.
After that he made a number of good serves to keep the damage to 1-0, a creditable result under the circumstances against the early Championship title challengers in front of a crowd split about 50-50 between home and away fans because of an Owls boycott in protest against the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri.
The Owls were allowed to sign Lumley because without him and the injured Pierce Charles, they would have been forced to give 18-year-old Logan Stretch a senior debut.
Football League rules state that when a club is left without a goalkeeper with five or more starts in league, FA or League Cup matches, they can bring in another on loan, but only for seven days. That loan can then be renewed on a weekly basis until the situation improves.
This even applies irrespective or transfer windows or embargoes. Wednesday are under five embargoes for various issues around their financial affairs.
Although Cardiff City's Horvath signed in emergency circumstances, when Charles was told he needed shoulder surgery, his was not classed as an emergency loan. He is therefore with the club until January.
And even though this Wednesday emergency has technically passed, rule 58.4 states "Any goalkeeper registered under the provisions of this regulation must be included in the starting 11 on the team sheet and must start the match."
Not for the first time, the unusual circumstances at Hillsborough have created a situation the rulemakers do not appear to have fully anticipated.
Emergency goalkeeper loans are usually to cover injuries that last longer than half a week, not one-game suspensions in two-match weeks.