Following the initial deep concern at seeing Yousef Salech being carried off the pitch on a stretcher while wearing a neck brace, all connected to Cardiff City will have been immensely relieved to hear later in the day that the striker had not suffered a serious injury.
The forward was left on the ground following a collision with Brad Hills during the Bluebirds' 1-1 draw with Stockport County at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.
After a 13-minute delay while the 24-year-old received treatment, the Danish front man was taken to hospital for further assessment.
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Fortunately, the club gave a positive update little more than three hours after full time.
"We’re pleased to inform supporters that Yousef Salech has been discharged from hospital without any serious injury and will now observe a short period of rest and recovery," a club statement read.
The incident prompted a strong response from head coach Brian Barry-Murphy who stated the injury to Salech had "been coming".
"We've seen for months that he (Salech) hasn't been protected by the referees.
"It definitely wasn't nice viewing. It's very difficult when you have such a serious injury to someone who's so close to all the players."
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Hills was not penalised for the incident, and referee Paul Howard did not award the Bluebirds a free-kick.
So does Barry-Murphy have a point when it comes to his claims that Salech needs more protection from officials?
According to Opta, Salech has been fouled 51 times in League One so far this season.
For context, Stockport's Kyle Wootton (63), Exeter City's Jayden Wareham (57) and Lincoln City's Freddie Draper (53) have been fouled more in the third tier so far this term.
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It remains to be seen whether or not the Bluebirds plan to have, or have had, discussions with the Football Association on the matter, although the fact Barry-Murphy referenced in his post-match press conference that Salech has been a target for some time was telling.
"We do so much analysis on the games. If I'm an opposing manager or an opposing team, I'll see what you can and can't get away with against a player with his profile," said the Irishman.
"It's been coming for months where he's been consistently fouled. There's a lot of talk about what the threshold is this season - the level of contact can be prolonged in more than previous years. It's got ridiculous.
"He's clearly been fouled all the time and not got any free-kicks. The interpretation of the new rules is up to the referees, but it's clear how much you can and can't get away with and the level of challenges that he's consistently facing are clearly fouls and not being punished."
But the change in interpretation Barry-Murphy is talking about is not something that has been sprung upon unsuspecting managers this season.
From 2023, the English Football League stated their desire for the flow of matches to be as swift as possible.
As a result, their rules state the following: "As attempts continue to be made to keep the game flowing, a high threshold for penalising contact will remain, with officials not awarding a foul for all contact, yet penalising when contact has a detrimental impact on an opponent."
Quite what that guidance means in reality, though, is still a matter for referees to decide.
Detrimental? How detrimental? Detrimental to a player’s health or to his chances of scoring or setting up a chance for a teammate?
Salech’s confrontation with Hills produced plenty of debate, but no clear verdict over whether Hills was using his arms in order to challenge for the ball, or to create “a detrimental impact” on Salech.
The only thing that is clear is that Salech has been one of the shining lights this term and has unquestionably been pivotal for Cardiff, scoring 12 goals in the league and featuring in all 27 matches in the third tier under Barry-Murphy.
Ultimately, the news that he is not seriously injured was the most important factor.
But when it comes to Cardiff and Barry-Murphy, a dossier may well need to be sent to the powers that be at the FA as the club look to ensure their players are given the best protection possible moving forward.
