Dundee have confirmed defender Julen Etxabeguren’s season is over.
And the Achilles tendon injury the Spaniard suffered against Partick Thistle last week will rule him out until after the beginning of next season.
He was carried off in the 1-0 midweek defeat at the hands of the Jags and will now have to undergo surgery later this week.
Only then will the full extent of the damage be known but the Dark Blues are expecting the worst.
They already accept Etxabeguren’s campaign has been brought to a premature end.
And it’s likely his recovery period will take six months, meaning he will not be ready for the start of the 2017/18 hostilities.
“Julen will probably have surgery on Thursday and he is looking at six months out,” said manager Paul Hartley.
“We believe it is ruptured, so he is away down to see the surgeon and is pencilled in (for an operation) on Thursday.
“It is a big blow for Jules and us. He’s been doing well.”
With club captain James McPake still working to get back from the dislocated knee he suffered at the beginning of last year, Etxabeguren’s injury leaves Dundee with just three recognised first-team central defenders.
Darren O’Dea is automatic first choice and will be joined at St Johnstone on Saturday by either Kosta Gadzhalov or Kevin Gomis in defence.
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