Faf du Plessis said the axe could fall on JP Duminy when South Africa attempts to level the Test series against England at Trent Bridge.
Duminy failed twice with the bat in the first Test at Lord's, scoring 15 and 2, as England hammered the tourist by 211 runs inside four days to lead the four-match series.
The left-hander came in for criticism for the manner of his dismissal in the second innings on day four, having pulled a short ball from Mark Wood straight to Moeen Ali at midwicket on the stroke of tea to put the Proteas even deeper in the mire on 25-3.
Returning captain Du Plessis, who missed the opening match of the series following the birth of his first child, was unable to offer Duminy any assurances over his place in the side.
"JP will be the first guy to say he knows he needs to score runs for this team and it's no different for anyone else," the skipper said.
"He is desperate to do as well as anyone in that position. You want to try and score runs every time you go out there. He knows at the end of the day that it's about runs.
"He understands that if it has to come to a position where there is someone else that needs to be looked at. He will be the first to acknowledge [that].
"He is a crucial part of our senior player group and he will always put the team interests above himself so yes, he will be the first to acknowledge that."
Du Plessis said the Proteas will consider their options with Kagiso Rabada unavailable due to suspension in Nottingham.
He added: "With losing KG - do you look at possibly playing a four-seam attack because you are losing quite a high-quality bowler?
"That means there would be a batsman that will miss out. That's one option.
"You can look at someone like Theunis de Bruyn who has played pretty well this game - standing up at Lord's and it's only his second Test match. He was solid in that first innings. He played well."
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