Dundee goalkeeper Kyle Letheren will find out how long he will need to spend on the sidelines after injuring his knee.
The Welshman has been booked in for a scan to discover the extent of the damage suffered to the joint in the warm-up ahead of Saturday’s 3-1 victory at Motherwell.
Letheren’s name was on the teamsheet at Fir Park but it was Scott Bain who took his place in goal as the Dark Blues grabbed a terrific win over the Steelmen.
Dens boss Paul Hartley has resigned himself to losing Letheren for a few weeks at least and has been busy trying to bring in a keeper to provide Bain with back-up.
Hartley said: “We have had to let the swelling on Kyle’s knee go down a bit and he will get a scan on it tomorrow. Then we will find out the extent of the injury. It happened in the warm-up.
“He took off to make a save. When he landed he felt the impact with the ground and the knee twisted.
“We will know more after the scan but we will need to bring somebody else in because he will be out for a few weeks at best.”
Asked if it could be ligament or cartilage damage, Hartley replied: “He is still in a lot of pain but we will just have to wait and see.”
Hartley has been exlporing the possibility of dipping into the English market for a replacement but red-tape has narrowed his options.
He can sign someone who was a free agent before the transfer window closed at the end of August or, alternatively, look closer to home.
“The problem is that we can’t bring anybody in from down south because it’s cross-border and the window is shut,” he explained.
“It would have to be either someone who had been free since before August 31 or someone on loan from within Scotland.
“It’s always difficult to get a second-choice goalkeeper. I do have some ideas, though, and have had one or two names thrown at me.”
While the need for a deputy is acute, Bain showed during the Well win that he will have little trouble taking over the gloves from Letheren.
Hartley added: “Scott was thrown right in at the deep end and didn’t have time to think about it. I thought he had a good, assured performance and his handling was excellent.
“He has been waiting for his chance now it is up to him to go on and take it.
“I think goalkeeper is such a difficult position when you are not playing because goalies very rarely get injured.
“You just have to wait on your opportunity and it’s come along now for Scott.”
Hartley, meanwhile, highlighted the club’s duty of care to defender James McPake, who missed out on Saturday as he was attending his father’s funeral.
“James wasn’t in the right frame of mind to go and play and that’s understandable,” added the Dundee gaffer.
“Your family comes first. He has had a tough time over the last few days so we will have to look after him and make sure he’s OK.”
There has also been sympathy for Iain Davidson, whose stepfather died.
Meanwhile, Paul McGinn jarred his back but should be available to face league leaders Hamilton Accies at Dens on Saturday.
Also, captain Kevin Thompson played over 20 minutes against the Steelmen and came through unscathed, while Willie Dyer has returned to training.
Simon Ferry will also report back at work this morning as he continues his comeback from illness.
Hartley said: “Simon has bronchitis and is on antibiotics but he will be training tomorrow. He has been poorly but we will assess him and see if he can do some light work.”
When you add together all those selection problems, it shows the result at Fir Park in an even better light.
“The guys who were out were all first-team players so we were stretched to the max,” added Hartley.
“We had four youngsters on the bench. So when you consider the circumstances I think the players performed really well on Saturday.”