Down have been dealt a cruel triple blow ahead of their Ulster SFC opener against Anglo-Celt Cup holders Monaghan.
Kilcoo pair Ryan and Jerome Johnston will miss the provincial quarter-final due to injury, while Niall Madine has opted off the panel.
The Johnston brothers each underwent surgery on dislocated shoulders last month and will be unavailable for "months rather than weeks", while Madine has informed Down boss Eamonn Burns that he is opting off the panel to travel to America in June.
Caolan Mooney also quit the panel last month, while there is no sign of Marty Clarke making a return to the Red & Black.
"It's very disappointing to lose an experienced inside-forward," Burns stated in The Irish News regarding Madine's departure. "At times, he was struggling a bit for fitness, a few other boys were performing better at training. He got on in a couple of games and his form had started to pick up at training, so we were a wee bit surprised to hear he had opted out. But it's his own decision.
"We have our panel drawn up and we didn't really have to cut it because different boys opted out, so we're happy enough with the way we have our forwards set out, so I don't envisage bringing anybody else in at this point in time."