Dundee United fear Dylan Levitt’s season could be over.
The Wales international suffered a knee injury during the Tangerines’ 3-1 defeat against Aberdeen on Saturday.
He was a notable absentee for Wednesday evening’s Premiership stalemate against Livingston, with boss Jim Goodwin describing the set-back as “a tweak“.
However, he acknowledged that the full severity of the issue would become clear in subsequent days.
And it is understood the damage could be far more severe.
Scans suggest that Levitt may have sustained ligament damage which would keep him out for the remainder of the campaign.
The former Manchester United man will be sent for a specialist second opinion next week, with United chiefs desperately hoping they receive positive news.
However, they are braced for the worst.
Despite failing to reach the dazzling heights of last term — even coming in for criticism from previous Tannadice boss Liam Fox — Levitt has notched five goals and three assists in 30 appearances during the 2022/23 campaign.
His absence would be a major blow ahead of a fraught fight for survival.
Imbalance
Meanwhile, Goodwin has dismissed suggestions that United’s squad is “imbalanced” despite Steven Fletcher being the Tangerines’ only proven striker.
The Tannadice hierarchy have been criticised for allowing Nicky Clark and Tony Watt to depart over the course of this season and failing to adequately replace the duo.
However, Goodwin believes United DO have sufficient firepower in the final third — but have been affected by injuries.
It is a situation he hopes will be remedied by the impending returns of Peter Pawlett and Glenn Middleton.
“It is probably a similar situation to the one I went into at Aberdeen,” recalled Goodwin. “This time last season, they relied heavily on (Christian) Ramirez and didn’t have a great deal of back-up after that.
“It is similar here with Fletch (Steven Fletcher) being the No.9 and the main man.
“He will always lead the line as far as I am concerned. If he is fit, he will play because he leads by example. That is what you want in a relegation dogfight.
“But I wouldn’t say there is an imbalance in the squad that every position is not covered. We’ve missed key players and if you add Pawlett and Middleton to the squad then you have two pacy, intelligent and technically gifted attacking players.
“At this stage of the season when you need to score goals, it is vital you have your most creative players available.”
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