At a time when the weight of historical results is bearing down on them, the Highlanders have lost an invaluable member of their pack, lock Josh Dickson, to a broken leg.
Dickson broke his fibula against the Crusaders and will be lost to the side, and probably Otago in the Mitre 10 Cup, for the remainder of the season.
He has been replaced in the squad by Hawke's Bay lock Geoff Cridge.
That comes as the Highlanders prepare to try and end their run of losses to the Hurricanes which started in 2016.
Highlanders skills coach Riki Flutey said while the obvious loss of Dickson's experience was important what would be missed even more was his leadership skills.
"Josh has been outstanding, outstanding leadership. He's leading off the field and running our forwards, and on the field as well. [He's] been playing well," he said.
Dickson's loss should see Jack Whetton get more time. Whetton said while his thoughts were with Dickson, he wanted to take any chance he could get.
Whetton, who replaced Dickson when he suffered his 20th-minute injury, said the Highlanders had been there or thereabouts but had suffered at the weekend as a result of the amount of possession the Crusaders enjoyed.
"We can take some positives out of that but the way we finished the game was pretty disappointing, too, letting in a couple of soft tries," he said.
The Highlanders needed to trust themselves more, he said.
"We showed it on the weekend. We can play rugby, so not being afraid to throw that pass, not being afraid to back your skills. That is the main thing," he said.
Looking to the Hurricanes' game, Flutey said it would be about searching for consistency when chances occurred.
They had not been clinical enough during the key moments that arose against the Crusaders at the weekend, he said.
"We are creating once we are getting inside the 22 but finishing those opportunities is a massive one for us," he said.
Against all the New Zealand sides, there were x-factor players all over the park who could create opportunities out of nothing. The Hurricanes were no different.
"[Ngani] Laumape in the midfield, [TJ] Perenara and Jordie Barrett out the back, they're creating lots of opportunities and they have the ability to score tries from set-pieces so a big focus for us is around our defence and also nailing opportunities that we get," he said.
"We thought our defence was really good throughout the game [against the Crusaders]. We defended for long periods but we missed a few opportunities," he said.
The key to improvement was having composure in certain moments.
"We train for those opportunities. Being able to put it out there on the field is key," he said.