Dunfermline have been struck a huge blow with the news that Lewis McCann looks set to miss the rest of the season.
The striker suffered what boss Neil Lennon has revealed looks to be a serious hamstring injury during Tuesday’s training session.
The 23-year-old will undergo a scan on Monday to discover the extent of the damage.
But, with just three games remaining in the regular campaign, it is anticipated the marksman will not play any further part in the Pars’ battle to avoid relegation.
“We’ve lost Lewis McCann,” said Lennon ahead of Saturday’s crucial clash with Partick Thistle. “He got a bad injury in training on Tuesday so he could be out for the season.
“Which is a big blow for us and a big blow for him, obviously.
“It looks like a hamstring [injury], it looks like a bad one as well. He just reached for the ball a little bit and it was either when he was reaching for it or when he landed and he jolted.
“We don’t know how bad it is yet, just because of the swelling around the back of the knee.
“He’ll have a scan on Monday and then we’ll have a better idea of how bad it is.
Lennon: ‘We haven’t been blessed with luck’
“He’s been doing well, he’s got good attributes. Since I’ve been here we haven’t been blessed with luck in terms of the injury front.”
McCann’s absence leaves Lennon short of options in the last line of his attack.
He has favoured two up front in recent weeks. But, with 18-year-old Ephraim Yeboah his only real back-up, could opt to tweak his formation to face Thistle.
The likes of David Wotherspoon, Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Michael O’Halloran and Tashan Oakley-Boothe are back from injuries to provide support alongside Matty Todd in behind a striker.
And Chris Kane, who has scored six of the Pars’ last seven goals and got the winner against Queen’s Park last weekend, has been managed carefully this week as he copes with long-running calf issues.
“We’ll give it a bit of thought over the next couple of days and try and come up with an idea of how we want to play and who we play,” added Lennon.
“Chris Kane is fine. He’s a happy boy, he’s not having to do a lot of physical work so he’s happy in his world!
“Obviously he has this ongoing calf problem with the scar tissue. It’s an old injury. It flares up now and again.
“So we just want to make sure that we don’t risk him for the sake of a training session rather than a game.
“But I think he’s looking good. He’s trained a couple of days this week and he’s good.”
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