Montrose boss Stewart Petrie is still waiting to discover the full extent of the Achilles injury suffered by Michael Bolochoweckyj – however the key defender will definitely miss the rest of the season.
The 32-year-old had to be replaced after just six minutes of Saturday’s League 2 derby with league leaders Forfar at Links Park.
Petrie’s men managed to cope with Bolochoweckyj’s early departure to hold on for a narrow 1-0 win.
Now, though the manager’s thoughts are firmly with his player who is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Petrie said: “We are still waiting to discover the full extent of Michael’s injury whether it is a full or partial rupture of his Achilles.
“However, what is certain is that it is a huge blow for the club and Michael himself.
“He has been in great form recently and is a really good defender.
“Ironically, he was set to miss the next two games because of suspension but now he will sit out the rest of the season and part of the next.
“Michael is a fit lad though and I am sure he will be back as soon as possible and we wish him all the best with his recovery.”
Montrose have now won four and drawn one of their last five games to put them into promotion play-off contention but Petrie is still just happy that the club’s No.1 objective this season – League 2 survival – has been achieved.
He added: “Losing Michael so early against Forfar was a setback for us and we had to withstand wave after wave of Forfar attacks.
“However, we held on and we were delighted to win another derby for the fans, especially at home.
“It was great to secure our League 2 status the previous week by drawing at Elgin, not having to rely on anyone else to do us a favour.
“That was our main objective all along, to stay in this league and it is great that everyone still has something to play for at this stage of the season – although some chairman might disagree with that.”
