An injury to Reece Gray saw Dale's behind closed doors friendly with Liverpool brought to a premature close.
The injury happened around 50 minutes into the game, and initial reports have compared it with the sort of injury suffered by Anthony Pilkington in the Huddersfield v Dale game in 2010-11.
It had been expected that Gray would feature a lot more in the first team this season, and pre-season team selections have reflected that.
It leaves Dale manager John Coleman with very limited options up front with just Ashley Grimes and George Donnelly to pick from. Efforts in the transfer market had already proved to be frustrating, but that need to bring in at least one striker will have intensified after this.
Reece himself tweeted from the hospital: "Thanks for all the messages people.. Really appreciate it!.. Jus hope that the op goes well.. And should be back playing football soon as!"
Further messages of support can be tweeted to @ReeceGray_28.
The game saw Liverpool put out an almost full strength side, with the Europa League qualifiers leading 2-1 at the time.