Dundee United defender Paul Quinn has suffered a heart scare as a result of a poisoned tooth.
The former Ross County captain had one of his teeth taken out in the days running up to the Falkirk match in an attempt to cure an abscess.
However, he came off after just 10 minutes of Saturday’s goalless draw against the Bairns after feeling the effects of the dental infection.
The poison seems to have seeped into his system and has caused his heart rate to rocket.
Tangerines manager Ray McKinnon said: “He is really struggling and we haven’t seen him since Saturday.
“He is away seeing the doctor for an ECG (electrocardiogram) scan.
“He needed the heart scan done because his heart rate was going through the roof yesterday.
“From what we gather, some infection has gotten into his mouth and is having this effect on him.
“He had an abscess and needed a tooth extraction but it has led to this infection.
“It is obviously causing him a real problem.
“We will just have to wait and see what the doctors are saying but, hopefully, he will be fine.
“It is not good news but, on the flip side, I thought William Edjenguele came on for Paul and played really well against Falkirk on Saturday.
“At least we have a good replacement for Paul is he is to miss out.”
On a sunny day at St Andrews it never rained but it poured for the United boss as he reported yet more grim injury news.
Patrick N’Koyi is still sidelined with a hamstring problem, James Keatings suffered a dead leg in a bounce game on Monday, Scott Fraser’s is having his troublesome foot scanned again and Billy King also has a knock.
McKinnon added: “Patrick is still out and is struggling with his hamstring.
“Also, James Keatings took a dead leg yesterday in a bounce game and had to come off after 10 minutes.
“We hoped he would be back fit this weekend but it looks like he is going to be out again. I would say he is very doubtful at best.
“He took a real bad one on the thigh and he can’t bend his leg. It is not ideal for him because he is trying to come back as quickly as possible.
“Scott Fraser is also struggling again and hasn’t trained because of his foot.
“He has a scan on Wednesday so hopefully we get a positive result out of that.
“People like him, who can score goals for us, just can’t seem to get any time on the park on a consistent basis.
“Billy King also hasn’t trained so we have one or two wee issues that we have to deal with.
“We just can’t seem to get a settled side out there.”
On the plus side, McKinnon is happy with the progress being made regarding Scott McDonald’s fitness, while long-term absentee Tam Scobbie is closing in on a comeback.
The Tannadice gaffer said: “One good thing is that Scott is getting fitter so that’s a real positive for us.
“He is almost bang up to speed.
“Ideally, though, I would like to have someone else there to play alongside him.
“I haven’t really had two strikers together on a consistent basis in order to build up a partnership.
“So we are muddling along at the minute but we will get there.
“Tam could be back in training next week and that would be massive for us.
“He has been doing work today with our physio Jeff Clarke.
“We have missed him on the park and at training, with the boys saying that he is a good character to have around the place.”
