Scunthorpe boss Alan Knill says his side are in the midst of a difficult period after Tuesday's 3-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
Iron are now one point above the League One relegation zone. Former Bury boss Knill replaced Ian Baraclough at Glanford Park in March last year, but could not fend off relegation from the Championship and has seen this season wrecked by injuries to key players.
Full-back Christian Ribeiro, on loan from Bristol City, lasted little more than 30 seconds of his home debut before going off with a head injury and Scunthorpe were temporarily down to 10 men when Wednesday opened the scoring.
Knill said: "That seems to have been the story of our season. The squad does need strengthening and that is what we're still trying to do. But whenever we bring someone in new, they seem to get injured."
Wednesday striker Chris O'Grady struck twice in the opening 17 minutes and winger Jermaine Johnson added a third for the visitors just after half-time before Jordan Robertson netted his first goal for the Iron.
Knill added: "I thought we did give it a go in the second half, but it was too late. These are difficult times for us at the moment. They have been all season. We need to get some of our good players back off the treatment table."
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