Cisse's injury also leaves the Lions desperately short of cover at centre half: if either Malick Diop or Lamine Diatta gets injured Senegal could be in real difficulty.
It got worse for Barca as Real's young French centre half Raphael Varane rose unchecked from a corner to head home a third goal that truly knocked the stuffing out of the home side.
Gall's still had time to register another score before the break as centre half-forward Kevin McGourty released Sean Burke to slot over the bar, with the midfielder content to take his point instead of aiming low.
Ferguson could employ a makeshift centre-half pairing of midfielders Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher as he waits for his walking wounded to return to fitness, although he is reportedly trying to convince Evra to switch to centre-half.
Yates confirmed he is still searching for a centre-half and centre-forward, but maintains he is still happy to be patient as he goes about filling the last few places in his squad.
Gerrard was forced off by injury at half-time, but his replacement centre-half Jack Hobbs was eased into the action as both sides struggled to pose an attacking threat after the restart.
Hampton had earlier lost goalkeeper Matt Lovett to a first-half injury and, with no keeper on the bench, centre-half Dean Wells took over in goal, but was seldom troubled by the home side.
The Irish League will be represented by Crusaders centre-half Coates and Coleraine winger Carson.
Former Barnsley centre-half Atkinson says he has received more than one offer from the club.
But Inverness refused to allow the centre-half to rejoin the former Caledonian Thistle player-manager in Tayside.
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Allardyce confirmed that centre-half Christopher Samba had returned to training but was still feeling weak.
Centre-half Laville is relishing the opportunity to join up with former team-mate Bruno Ngotty.
Loovens was recalled for his first outing since October to cover for injured centre-half Daniel Majstorovic.
Motherwell manager Stuart McCall sent on centre-half Stephen Craigan for striker Murphy to shore up the defence.
And Allardyce responded immediately with the acquisition of Andre, a striker from Nantes, and Lyon centre-half Laville.
Kay began his career as a centre-half at Barnsley, making over 200 appearances for the Oakwell club.
Iwelumo found his way in behind the Cardiff defence when centre-half Roger Johnson misjudged a header 35 yards out.
Centre-half Isaac Vorsah in particular looked very authoritative at the back for Ghana.
"I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision, " the Chelsea centre-half said in a statement.
"We identified him as a very strong centre-half, who has made big progress very quickly, " said boss Arsene Wenger.
"Matt is a quality centre-half, quite capable of playing in the League, there's no question about that, " he said.
It looked like the centre-half's fortunes were changing but a summer of upheaval at Celtic persuaded him to look elsewhere.
Strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Rooney are expected to recover from injury, Ryan Giggs should play, while centre-half Nemanja Vidic has overcome flu.
The double substitution also saw Chris Riggott replacing crocked centre-half Robert Huth.
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The Dons have been looking for cover for centre-half Brett Johnson, who is set to undergo exploratory surgery on a troublesome knee injury.
Leeds centre-half Alex Bruce then failed to deal with Clarke Carlisle's long punt forward and Rodriguez added Burnley's second with a low shot.
The Irish Under-19 international started out in the heart of the midfield for a long spell before moving back to centre-half last season.
And after 22 minutes the 31-year-old was sent on for the injured McCann, moving into the centre-half position in a re-jigged Caley back line.
"If that is the case, you have to respect that, " but Hughes nevertheless will attempt to coax the Hibs centre-half to captain his side.
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