Dundee United captain Paul Paton is facing Hampden heartache after suffering yet another knee injury.
Paton has been arguably the struggling Tannadice club’s best player since returning to action in January.
The new injury is to the same knee that kept him out long-term and the outlook does not look good for the Northern Ireland international, who had hoped to finish the season with the Tangerines before travelling to the Euro 2016 finals in France.
United manager Mixu Paatelainen, asked if Paton will miss Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs at the national stadium despite reporting for training at St Andrews yesterday, said: “Paul has a little problem with his knee and obviously he has been playing with pain, training with pain.
“He has missed some training sessions because of that.
“There is a problem there with his knee.
“I don’t know yet if he is in or out yet of the squad for Saturday.
“We are investigating, of course we are, and talking to the doctors and medical people, absolutely.
“We want it to be right.
“We are talking about a player’s health, which is very important on top of everything else.
“We will investigate before Saturday and come to a conclusion about whether he will be included or not.”