Dundee United have been dealt an injury blow after Ian Harkes was ruled out for several weeks.
The American midfielder was notable by his absence as the Tangerines slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Kilmarnock on Wednesday evening.
Harkes, who was withdrawn after an hour against Celtic at the weekend, endured slight hamstring discomfort — however, the club were initially hopeful that the issue was not severe.
But a subsequent scan has shown the issue is more serious than first suspected.
Harkes will now face a number of weeks on the sidelines, albeit there is no definitive recovery timeline.
The news is a further blow for the Terrors, who returned to the foot of the table last night, given the former DC United midfielder was enjoying his finest spell of form this season — with a goal and an assist in six Premiership games since the World Cup hiatus.
Aziz Behich missed the reverse at Rugby Park for personal reasons and there is no indication whether he will be available to face Hearts on Saturday.
‘No-one is going to panic’
Meanwhile, United boss Liam Fox is adamant there will no panic at Tannadice as the club once again prop up the Premiership.
“I thought we were flat (against Kilmarnock),” rued Fox. “I’ve not thought that about the group for a long period of time.
“That is disappointing considering how big a game it was.
“But we’ve been bottom before so no-one is going to panic about it. Is that where we want to be? Absolutely not. But I think there will be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as the season goes on.
“We don’t get too high when we win and we won’t get too low when we lose.”
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