Penrith hooker James Segeyaro is the latest player to join the club's mounting injury list after hurting his knee in Saturday night's 24-12 NRL loss to Canterbury.
Scans on Monday are expected to confirm a medial strain suffered in the second half at ANZ Stadium, which will likely put him in a tracksuit for at least a fortnight.
Penrith had only just got key playmaker Jamie Soward back from a shoulder injury this week in what was just his fourth game lining up alongside halfback Peter Wallace.
"Someone's walked under a ladder or smashed a mirror or something," Soward said.
"We're just going to have to punch on and see what happens.
"(Segeyaro) is going to be monitored over the next couple of days.
"Obviously it's tough when someone does their knee. Hopefully it's not too bad - he'll miss a couple of weeks and then be back.
"We've got a fantastic replacement in Api but obviously Chicko being first-choice, it's not ideal."
Segeyaro joins first-grade regulars Matt Moylan, Josh Mansour, Jamal Idris, Brent Kite and George Jennings in a bulging casualty ward.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said their injury crisis had contributed heavily to a severe drop in form that has seen them drop four of their past five games.
"We're a team at the moment that just can't quite make it happen," he said.
"We're then looking for other ways to get it done, which is leading to too many errors.
"Part of that is the disjointed nature of our season, but we haven't been playing well for a while now.
"But I thought I actually saw some better signs tonight.
"Certainly a lot to build on that's for sure, and we're going to have do it."
Not helping Cleary is the saga surrounding assistant coach Trent Barrett, who remains on leave amid speculation he will succeed Geoff Toovey as head coach at Manly next season.
"Nothing's changed from what it's been. I don't have any news there," he said.
"He's a valued member of our organisation. Until such things change, then that's the way it'll be."
Cleary did note, however, that Mansour is likely to return for next Sunday afternoon's clash against the Wests Tigers.
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