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.
