Dundee United have been rocked by a major injury blow, with skipper Jon Daly set to be sidelined for a month.
The striker has suffered a medial ligament strain that will take around four weeks to heal.
Daly sat out Saturday’s derby draw with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park and he will almost certainly miss United’s next league game against Rangers at Tannadice in a fortnight.
Tangerines boss Peter Houston bolstered his squad last week with the addition of Finland under-21 striker Lauri Dalla Valle on loan from Fulham. But his forward options are set to be limited once again by the loss of Daly.
He said: “Jon has had a scan on his knee and it showed up a medial ligament strain so he’ll be out for three to four weeks. It’s something we could have done without because we are short on strikers.
“We just signed Lauri Dalla Valle to add to the numbers but at the weekend I was left with just him and Johnny Russell. It’s not ideal but hopefully Jon will be back soon.”
Houston expressed his pleasure at Dalla Valle’s debut against Saints and insisted the best is yet to come from the highly-rated 19-year-old.
He said: “I thought Lauri did well. It was a bit of a culture shock to him initially but he had a couple of decent shots on goal.
“I am sure he will continue to get better as he adjusts to the game here.”