Dundee United midfielder Jordie Briels is a doubt for Saturday’s clash with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The Dutchman limped out of the weekend defeat at Livingston with a hip injury.
It’s a problem he’s been managing for the past few weeks and the fear is it could now lead to a spell on the sidelines.
Just as the 26-year-old has been forming an impressive partnership with Fraser Fyvie in the United engine-room, that would be a blow.
And it would be the second time since his summer move from Fortuna Sittaard he’s been forced out by injury.
Back in August he missed several games after hurting an ankle in the Irn-Bru Cup win over Cowdenbeath.
United are well covered in the middle of the park, but losing Briels just as he’s finding his feet in the Scottish game is unfortunate.
And the injury was another disappointment on a bad day for the Tangerines in West Lothian.
A defensive lapse saw them fall behind after just seven minutes.
Despite having plenty of the ball, particularly in the second half, there was a lack of clear-cut chances created and a late strike from Nikolay Todorov secured the points for the home side, to move Livi up to second in the table while United slipped to fourth.
And boss Ray McKinnon was in no doubt over what had caused his team’s six-game unbeaten run to come to and end.
“There was a lack of concentration when we were in possession and for the first goal we got caught by a long ball over the top that should have been dealt with,” he said.
“That gave Livingston the impetus to go on and battle for everything.
“In the second half we were really dominant and we just needed to score a goal.
“We didn’t do it and we got caught with a sucker punch for the second goal.
“Both goals came on the counter and we should have dealt with the situations.”
There was also a lack of clear-cut chances created and Ray admitted that was another area that left him frustrated.
“We didn’t use the ball in the final third as well as we can,” he added.
“We were on top for most of the game and didn’t make the most of it.
“It’s disappointing but we’ll go again this week and be ready for Inverness coming to Tannadice.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.
