With Richard Shaw's retirement and Kenny Jackett's faliure to secure adequate cover has meant that The Lions have just two recognised centre halves in their squad and while left back Tony Craig has covered when required the Millwall boss has had to weaken his defence in other areas in order to fill the gap left by Whitbread's absence.
The former Liverpool man is also likely to miss the FA Cup clash against Chester City this weekend, leaving Jackett with little choice but to make do once again unless he can find another defender before Friday's deadline.
"A couple of games would be a big loss, but it could have been a lot worse," Jackett told the South London Press on Friday. "We will have to see how it goes next week and that will be determined within a couple of days."
By contrast, former manager Mark McGhee had eight centre halves available to him when he took over at The Den when The Lions won the Second Division title in the 2000/01 season.