Neill Collins has revealed Raith Rovers will be without the influential Sam Stanton until ‘some point’ in October.
The midfielder, who had just returned from a groin complaint, damaged his hamstring in the build-up to Friday night’s 2-0 defeat to Dunfermline.
A Fife derby talisman last season, the former Dundee United and Hibernian player was sorely missed and has now played just once in the past five weeks.
Despite the blow of another lay-off, hospital scans have indicated the injury is a minor one and Collins has ruled out an extended absence.
“Sam is not as bad as it could have been,” he told Courier Sport. “He hit a shot in training one day last week and pulled his hamstring.
“We think we’d done everything right and it was just one of those quirks of being a professional athlete.
“He went for a scan and it reflected what we thought. It showed us in a positive way that it was probably as good as we could have expected.
‘October at some point’
“I hate putting timeframes on it because you get held to them. But I think we should be looking to see him back on the pitch in October at some point.”
Raith have suffered major misfortune with injuries and suspensions so far this season, with Stanton, Scott Brown, Paul Hanlon, Kieran Freeman, Callum Fordyce, Euan Murray, Jack Hamilton, Lewis Vaughan and Shaun Byrne all spending time on the sidelines.
Despite Stanton’s latest setback, Collins is hopeful the treatment table will be a bit quieter in the coming weeks after Jack Hamilton’s welcome return as a late substitute against Dunfermline.
“I know how well the team did last season,” he added. “But if I look at the driving forces behind that, guys like Scott Brown and Sam, and with the players we are missing, like Euan Murray and Callum Fordyce, a lot of teams would find it difficult.
“Browny and Dycey are running, so they’re heading in the right direction. But there’s no progress that will impact us this weekend.
“This time next week, though, I’m hoping to have Browny back involved in training. And Dycey’s not far behind him.
“The quicker we can get Sam back, Browny back and our centre-backs settled then we’ll be far better off.
“We know we need to do better, but perspective is important and we know there’s reasons behind that.”
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