Dundee United’s new defender Lewis Toshney is thumbing his nose at the injury that is threatening to spoil his summer.
Toshney is determined to be ready to play for the Tangerines sooner rather than later despite suffering a badly broken nose during last Saturday’s closed doors friendly against Cove Rangers at St Andrews.
He had to go to hospital for treatment and while there the former Raith Rovers man was told by doctors that he could be facing as long as eight weeks on the sidelines.
However, according to his boss Ray McKinnon, the Tannadice player is determined to make that diagnosis appear rather too pessimistic.
McKinnon said: “His nose has been pummelled.
“However, he insists he can be back more quickly than what has been predicted.
“He has been told two weeks to get it redone then another six weeks after that.
“However, he will be back before then because he is that type of guy.
“He has trained on his own already this week but he has told me he wants to get back in with the others and if he takes another bang on it then he takes another bang on it.”
Meanwhile, it is understood that Slovenian trialist Alen Ploj will not be offered a deal by the Tangerines.
McKinnon remained tightlipped about his plans for the striker, who scored twice against Cove but missed a few good chances against Forfar on Tuesday night.
However, it is believed the United boss will be looking elsewhere as he looks to have his squad finalised by the time the first Championship game kicks off at home to Queen of the South on August 6.