Dundee United were left bruised as well as beaten by their shock defeat at Dumbarton on Saturday.
On top of going down to a Mark Docherty penalty at the Sons, the Tangerines left the Cheaper Insurance Direct Stadium with a major injury worry over defender Lewis Toshney.
The summer signing was floored by a Joe Thomson tackle many at the game felt deserved a red card instead of the yellow dished out by referee Gavin Duncan.
Toshney got up after treatment to complete the 90 minutes but, by the time he boarded the team bus, his knee was swollen and heavily strapped.
The injury will be assessed over the next few days but the concern is the 24-year-old could be out for a while.
With United’s other first-choice full-back, Paul Dixon, just back running after a knee operation, that would be a huge blow.
And Toshney hasn’t had his troubles to seek since signing up from Raith Rovers.
He broke his nose in a closed-door game against Cove Rangers last month and has postponed corrective surgery on that because it would have ruled him out for six weeks.
He also missed the league opener against Queen of the South because of a calf strain and, although he returned for the win over Partick Thistle last midweek, it was against medical advice.
This time he may have no option but to sit on the sidelines and already he’s a major doubt for Saturday’s home clash with Ayr United.
As for the weekend defeat, manager Ray McKinnon has not hidden his disappointment.
“What’s frustrating for me is we can play so well against Partick Thistle in midweek and destroy them and then be so lacklustre,” he said.
“It’s a learning curve for the team, it’s a learning curve for everybody but we need to make sure we do learn quickly.”
Painful as the result was, it was United’s first defeat in seven games so far.
And he remains confident his side are heading in the right direction.
“It’s early in the season and we will bounce back from this.
“If we get back to the performance we showed last Tuesday we’ll be fine.
“Everybody is learning right now, it’s a new team being put together.
“The standard of performance goes up and down and it’s about finding that balance.”
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