Midfielder Jesse Curran will miss Dundee’s Scottish Cup replay at Queen of the South today because of the hamstring injury he suffered in Saturday’s defeat against Motherwell.
The Dark Blues are assessing the problem that saw Curran pull up with just five minutes on the clock at Dens Park.
However, the fear is the Australian, who was limping heavily as he headed for the dressing-room after watching the first half from the bench, could be sidelined for several weeks.
That would be a major blow for both boss Jim McIntyre and the 22-year-old who has made 27 appearances in an excellent first campaign as a top-team regular.
Curran’s form has seen him monitored by his home country’s national team while Philippines manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has offered him the chance to be part of their set-up.
He qualifies for them through his mother and is also eligible for Scotland, where his father was born.
“The physio is assessing Jesse and we’ll just have to see how he is,” said his club boss.
Jim was left frustrated by the single-goal defeat against ’Well that came courtesy of a second-half penalty from David Turnbull, following a rash Ryan Inniss tackle on Elliot Frear.
The gaffer, though, took consolation from the way his side dominated most of the play.
“To say it was frustrating is stating the obvious because we put so much into the game. We didn’t deserve to lose that game, in my opinion we deserved to win it,” he said.
“But we didn’t punish Motherwell in the first half when we were on top and paid the price for a bad decision in our own penalty box.
“The big man (Inniss) is honest enough to put his hands up because there was no need to go to ground. With the chances we had there were also mistakes at the other end of the pitch.
“There were plenty positives to take from the way we played.
“It’s just about getting that decision-making a bit better.
“Overall, I was pleased with the performance even if we didn’t get the result we deserved.
“In our position we need points so you have to make better decisions and convert the pressure into points. But that’s the way I want my teams to play.”
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