Christophe Berra faces a race against time to be fit for Raith Rovers’ Championship showdown against Kilmarnock.
The former Hearts and Scotland star has been sidelined since suffering a calf strain during Rovers’ 2-2 draw against Morton on January 28.
With Tom Lang out until October with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and Kyle Benedictus toiling with a hamstring issue, Berra’s return will be even more welcome.
However, McGlynn is far from sure the 37-year-old will make the trip to Rugby Park.
“Christophe is probably 50/50 for the weekend — and no better than 50/50,” McGlynn told Courier Sport.
“All the stats are there in terms of Christophe’s importance to our club. He is a massive player for us and we have missed him. It will be great when we do get him back.
“And, with a tweaked hamstring, we are looking at two to three weeks [out] for Kyle [Benedictus].
“It really is such bad luck to lose Tom Lang, Christophe and Kyle. To lose three quality centre-backs — and two within the space of a couple of weeks — is something we couldn’t have foreseen.”
Immediate impact
Rovers’ centre-back crisis is likely to afford an inviting opportunity to Sean Mackie, signed on loan from Hibernian on Saturday.
Although Mackie has played the vast majority of his football — including a stint with Dundee in 2019/20 — at left-back, McGlynn is certain the 23-year-old can thrive in a more central role.
“We actually played Hibs in a bounce game down at their training centre and Sean played at left centre-back,” revealed McGlynn.
“He was on the left of a back-three, beside Ryan Porteous. That was only a couple of weeks ago and that gave us a sense of what he can do in that role. I think he’s got that versatility.
“Liam Dick can also move in one and play in the middle. We’ll just need to see how we want to approach things.”
In a statement rubber-stamping his switch to Raith, the Easter Road outfit confirmed that Mackie’s departure ‘calls time on his six-year spell as a Hibee’. His contract expires in the summer.
With Mackie back at the club where it all began — he was a youth player with Raith before joining Hibs in 2016 — McGlynn has urged the defender to embrace this ‘shop window’.
“Sean is playing for a contract with someone, whether that’s with Raith Rovers or anyone else who may be watching him,” added McGlynn.
“He’s in the shop window.
“He may benefit from the fact that we’ve got injuries and he may come straight in, which is what happened on Sunday.
“He’s been out for around a year with injuries and it’s a great opportunity for Sean to get his career going again.”
