Charlie Mulgrew is set to be sidelined until after the World Cup break.
Dundee United head coach Liam Fox confirmed that, barring “an absolute, real necessity”, Mulgrew will be afforded several weeks to fully recover from a persistent thigh complaint.
Mulgrew, 36, has not featured for the Tangerines since a 2-1 defeat against Rangers on September 17.
Despite initially battling back to be on the bench against Ross County earlier this month, he suffered a recurrence of the issue.
“Charlie is progressing but I’m not sure he’ll be back before the break,” said Fox, who confirmed that Dylan Levitt has returned to full training.
“With his age and the recurrence of the injury, unless it was an absolute, real necessity, then we probably won’t see him until after the break.”
Gold
While Fox has lost the services of one former Scotland star, the impact of another — Steven Fletcher — was a shining silver lining in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat against St Mirren.
Fletcher climbed from the bench against the Buddies after 54 minutes and swiftly rippled the net, firing home following a clever Tony Watt knock-down.
After shaking off a groin strain, the ex-Sunderland, Stoke and Marseille man will be firmly in contention for a return to the starting 11 when Motherwell visit Tannadice on Saturday.
As well as hailing Fletcher’s undeniable ability on the pitch, Fox reckons he has plenty to pass on to the next generation — and has urged the likes of Rory MacLeod, Miller Thomson, Matthew Cudjoe and Sadat Anaku to sit under the learning tree.
“There is an undoubted level of quality in how he trains, behaves and acts,” lauded Fox. “He is really good within the group and is good with the younger kids.
“He makes demands of people but never ever takes it too far. He’ll always look to go around and spend a bit of time with the younger players.
“My advice to the younger players is: watch, learn and soak everything up, if they are going to get to those levels.
“They need to ask him questions. Ask about his experience with managers; his experiences with players; what do you think about this or that?
“I want them to take that information and all the gold he has.”
Matthew Cudjoe update
With the likes of Watt, Fletcher, Anaku, MacLeod, Thomson, Cudjoe and the returning Peter Pawlett all battling for minutes, competition for places in the final third is fierce.
Cudjoe — a firm fans’ favourite after some bright cameos in Tangerine — was arguably the standout when United’s reserve side faced Dunfermline in midweek, doing his own chances no harm.
And Fox addressed what the Ghanaian must add to his game if he is to become a Tannadice regular.
“Cudjoe has undoubted talent,” he added. “I think he still needs a bit of work, tactically.
“With the shape we have playing lately and the areas I would see him playing, I need real discipline without the ball. That is something he needs to work on.
“He is a talent going forward and can create something out of nothing. He’s quick, direct and has the potential to be a really top player.
“But, as with all young players, he just needs to work on certain things and understand what the team needs him to do. That’s a process. He is working hard and I thought his performance was good (against Dunfermline) the other day.”
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