Matty Todd could be out of action with Dunfermline for up to three months after it was revealed he has broken his collarbone.
Manager James McPake has admitted it is a cruel blow for both the player and the Pars ahead of the new season.
Todd will see a specialist in the coming days to determine how best to treat the fracture, with an operation to pin the bone one of the options.
That would require a lengthier recovery of around three months.
But the 23-year-old is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks even without surgery after picking up the injury on Friday against East Fife.
“Matthew is to see a specialist in the next few days, I believe,” said McPake. “But he has a fractured collarbone.
“I’ve never experienced the injury but the physios and medical department have. It can be six weeks, it can be 12 weeks.
“But, first and foremost, and the club have been great with this, we have to get him to the specialist and get it assessed.
“Regarding the timescale, is it better we get it pinned? For his career and his health and well-being around that. The specialist will decide that.
“He’s been in at the club and he’s been bubbly, so that’s a bonus, and we’ll stick with him.”
Injury misfortune
It is the fifth lay-off in a little over a year for Todd.
Last year, an operation to remove his appendix curtailed the League One-winning season before he had planned surgery on his nose.
Then, an ankle injury forced him to go under the knife for a third time in a matter of months, ensuring he had to wait until November for his first league appearance.
A hamstring problem in December robbed him of another two months of the campaign and he finished with just 18 Championship outings.
“It’s a sore one – in more ways that one,” added McPake, who saw his side draw 1-1 with Cove Rangers on Tuesday night.
“When you lose a player of Matty Todd’s quality, and what he brings you in terms of goals, running power, setting goals up, he’s an all-rounder. So, for the team it affects you.
“But, personally, for the boy, we’re gutted. When you think of the injuries he had last season, he gets himself back and he works really hard over the summer.
“He comes back in great condition – and then takes a dull one in a shoulder challenge and ends up with a fractured collarbone.
“We’ll get Matty right, he’s a player we all love working with, but we’re not getting to work enough with him – through no fault of anybody’s.
McPake: ‘He’ll still be a big player for us’
“But we’ll get him back, we’ll get him right and he’ll still be a big player for us.
“I don’t mean this bad to the rest of them, but if there’s any player in our team you don’t want injured it’s Matthew Todd.
“Just with what him, and Kane Ritchie-Hosler, went through last season.
“But, also, I don’t think there’s another player in our league, never mind our team, that offers you the threat, just constantly, that Matthew does.”
