Neill Collins admits Raith Rovers are bracing themselves for bad news on a potentially long-term knee injury for Callum Smith.
The former Airdrie and Dunfermline striker was crocked just before half-time in last Friday’s 2-0 win over Ayr United.
He was sent for a scan on Monday and consulted a specialist on Thursday to get to the bottom of the issue.
However, a further meeting has been arranged for a final prognosis.
Collins did not want to go into detail on the exact nature of the injury but confessed it appears to be ‘a bad one’.
“It’s probably, at this point, not looking very positive,” he told Courier Sport.
“I think we’ve got one more follow-up [appointment] before we’re probably able to finalise it. But I think it’s certainly not looking too positive right now.
Collins: ‘It’s such a shame’
“So, hopefully by next week, we can give you the full [diagnosis].
“It’s such a shame. Callum Smith is one of those lads that, when he goes down, you know something’s wrong.
“And I think anyone that could see the injury on TV, it was a bad one.
“We’ll hopefully have a full picture [next week]. But I think it’s looking like it’ll be longer term.”
Smith’s injury, which looks set to rule him out for months at the same time as fellow forward Lewis Vaughan, has put a dampener on Raith’s deserved victory over Ayr.
The 24-year-old was in clear pain as he was helped round the pitch during the interval after stretching to try to reach a Callum Fordyce cross before landing in a heap off the pitch.
Rovers will still head west to face Patrick Thistle with rising confidence, but Collins admits the loss of the 24-year-old is a lesson on the highs and lows of sport.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?,” he added. “For all the positives that we had last Friday, you go away just with that reminder there is just always something in football.
“Everyone’s thinking about Smithy.”
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