After initially fearing he had broken his leg at Tynecastle on Saturday, St Johnstone full-back Danny Grainger now hopes to be back in action within the next fortnight.
The left-back admitted it had crossed his mind that his season could have been over with only 19 minutes of the new campaign clocked up.
The former Dundee United man was stretchered off against Hearts and taken to hospital after colliding with a post.
Such was the pain he had experienced, at first he suspected his leg was broken or the knee ligaments severely damaged.
A Saturday night scan brought good news and he can now contemplate a return to action in Saints’ Ibrox clash with Rangers in two games’ time.
Grainger, who has already dispensed with his weekend crutches, said, “I feel quite lucky. Hopefully I shouldn’t be out too long.
“It wasn’t the ideal start to the season but it could have been much worse. I thought all the hard work I’d put in during the close season had been erased.
“It could easily have been a long term injury and we have a few of those at the club already.Thankful”I feel for guys like Kevin Moon, Peter MacDonald and Martin Hardie who are working hard to get back. I’m just thankful I got away with it.
“We’ve got Aberdeen on Saturday and I could miss that one. But I should be back for the next game. We’ll see how it settles down over the rest of the week with the physio working on it.”
Grainger was helped off the pitch after the sickening collision with the post. He had defended a curling free-kick but his momentum, under pressure from striker Calum Elliot, carried him into the upright.
He attached no blame to the young forward.
“I’ve watched it back on television and Calum was just going for the ball. It wasn’t his fault. He was just trying to put it in the back of the net.
“His momentum carried him into me and I connected with the post.Pain”It caught me on the shin pad and if it had been a few inches higher up I’d have been in trouble.
“My first thought was that I’d broken my leg because I’d never felt pain like it. Maybe it caught a nerve.”
With Dave Mackay struggling to recover from a back injury and Steven Anderson suspended following his Tynecastle red card, manager Derek McInnes is likely to move into the transfer market to bolster his defensive options, which were already limited.
He said, “We’ve only got six defenders and we’re a bit short in the full-back area, so we could need to bring someone in. I’ll be trying to do that this week.
“Dave Mackay hasn’t made his injury any worse. Obviously we want to get him right but we’ll give him every chance for Saturday. Hopefully we’ll see an improvement this week.
“Thankfully Danny’s not sustained any lasting damage but you would have to say he’s a doubt for Saturday.”