Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale, the Football League's longest-serving boss, has registered himself as a player ahead of his illness-hit team's League Two clash against Portsmouth.
Pat Baldwin, Danny Butterfield, Arron Davies, and David Wheeler are all doubts for today's opening fixture at St James' Park after a bug circulated around the team.
Meanwhile, Scot Bennett and Liam Sercombe face fitness tests and Jordan Moore-Taylor is out with a broken foot.
The 41-year-old Grecians manager told BBC Sport: "It's always a difficulty when you've got players who are ill.
"You never quite know if they're going to be 100% or not when it comes to the full-blown match tempo on a Saturday afternoon.
"Hopefully I won't have to put my boots on, but we'll have to see how many people are available."
Tisdale has made just one league appearance since February 1998, as a last-minute sub in 2011 to mark his official retirement.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Hungary
Scotland
Switzerland
Albania
Croatia
Italy
Spain
Denmark
England
Serbia
Slovenia
Austria
France
Netherlands
Poland
Belgium
Romania
Slovakia
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Georgia
Portugal
Turkey