Despite sitting pretty in second spot in League One currently, Derby County's woes up top are still yet to be sorted out.
Paul Warne had to start Nathaniel Mendez-Laing up top in his side's narrow 1-0 win over Stevenage at the weekend, the more naturally suited winger slotting into the side as a makeshift striker owing to growing injury issues in the centre-forward ranks at Pride Park.
On top of 18-goal star James Collins being sidelined through injury, the Rams are also without the likes of Martyn Waghorn and Conor Washington with Warne reportedly pushing for a deal to be struck with free-agent striker Dwight Gayle to add more numbers to the depleted position for Derby.
Yet, if the Rams had just been more proactive in the transfer window, they could well have landed this exciting Gayle alternative with the player in question standing out now for one of Derby's fierce promotion rivals.
When Derby wanted to sign Callum Lang
Derby were once in the race to sign former Wigan Athletic attacker Callum Lang last month, with Portsmouth unfortunately coming up trumps as the winners for Lang's signature over Warne's side.
Unable to sign both Lee Gregory and Michael Smith as well, it was a subdued window in truth for the promotion seekers especially when it came to bolstering their centre-forward spots.
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Able to play down the wing and as a second striker too, Lang's signature would really have strengthened the Rams and helped plug gaps in a number of problem areas with injuries piling up.
Whereas, as much as Gayle has been a prolific EFL sharpshooter over his extensive career, there's no guarantee he will set the world alight at Pride Park if signed after a barren time at his last employers in Stoke City.
On the contrary, the former Wigan man has hit the ground running almost immediately at Fratton Park to help Pompey push away from Derby in second place.
Lang's numbers with Portsmouth so far
Lang might well not boast the same reputation Gayle has for being an out-and-out goal-getter, but the 25-year-old has become an instant fan's favourite on the South Coast for his assuredness in front of goal all the same.
Three of Lang's five goals this campaign in League One have come from donning a Pompey strip, the £5.4k per week attacker bagging those strikes over a mini five-game purple patch recently.
One of those strikes came in this weekend's emphatic 4-1 win over Reading, with the former Latics forward also winning four duels along the way to help his side cruise to victory.
In stark contrast, Gayle managed to net just three goals for Stoke over a pitiful total of 50 games to showcase the 34-year-old's lack of a clinical edge as his career inevitably begins to peter out.
The ex-Newcastle man's ruthlessness in front of goal could be uncovered again making the drop down to the third tier however, but Derby will still be left rueing their decision to not go after Lang with more purpose.
The 25-year-old's current heroics for Pompey could see John Mousinho's strong South Coasters leave Derby in the dust when it comes to the hunt for the third-tier title, with the Rams potentially running out of steam amidst even more potential injuries owing to Gayle's own injury proneness, missing as many as 156 days in 2019/20.
Warne will just want to put any failure to land Lang to one side for the time being however, eager to get Gayle in through the door now to at least have another striker option he can call upon in the short term.