Queensland are preparing to be without four front-line players for Friday's clash with the Highlanders in Brisbane.
Wallaby duo Tate McDermott and Fraser McReight have already been handed three-week suspensions following last week's shock loss to Moana Pasifika.
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But there's further pain to come with standout forward Seru Uru (thumb) facing a month on the sidelines and centre Josh Flook (shoulder) also in doubt.
"It's not ideal, that's for sure. It wasn't ideal in the game. It was fairly costly as we saw," Reds coach Les Kiss told media on Tuesday.
"The opportunity in this now it to give a little bit more exposure to players that have been playing off the bench for us and players in the program to step up as well.
"My MO is if they're not there, you've got to move on and make it work."
Kiss confirmed Uru underwent thumb surgery this week and could miss up to six weeks.
Flook's injury status is yet to be determined, though there are serious concerns for the Australia A centre after he fell heavily during the Moana loss.
The absence of Uru and McReight opens the door for Reds youngster John Bryant to feature while Kalani Thomas and Louis Werchon will contend for McDermott's vacant #9 jersey.
Out wide, Jordan Petaia and Hunter Paisami loom likely candidates for the outside centre role should Flook be ruled out of a must-win clash with the tenth-placed Highlanders.
Kiss believes such setbacks are "part of the journey".
"We had a massive surge at the beginning of the year, there was a great expectation that we put on ourselves that we met, now there's a different expectation about how we can respond to this," Kiss said.
"There's one frontrunner, that's the Hurricanes, and all the other teams are within striking distance. Seasons have their ups and downs, and we've got a little bit of a challenge now.
"We don't want to be an if or a what if team. We know we've got a few things we can be better at on an individual level."
A fourth consecutive defeat could see Queensland slip to seventh with upcoming games against the Blues and Crusaders rounding out a challenging April.
