Louis Moult faces a race against time to be fit for Dundee United’s Premiership showdown against Hibernian.
The experienced marksman suffered a knee injury in the closing stages of the Tangerines’ thrilling 3-3 draw against Kilmarnock last month.
Moult was sidelined for the subsequent fixture against St Mirren, with Sam Dalby and Jort van der Sande lining up in attack.
And boss Jim Goodwin has confirmed that, as of Tuesday morning, Moult was yet to resume full training ahead of the Hibees’ visit to Tannadice.
A final decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
Moult has notched two goals in his last two appearances after battling to regain his starting berth.
“Louis is not back training with the group yet,” confirmed Goodwin.
“We’ll just need to assess that later in the week. He was in some good form prior to taking the knock against Kilmarnock, scoring in the two games back-to-back.
“But in my time here we’ve often had to go into games without key players, and the other players who come in tend to step up and contribute. That’s what the squad is there for.”
Kristijan Trapanovski update
Meanwhile, Goodwin has not ruled out Kristijan Trapanovski making a shock return to the first team squad against the capital club, while conceding that the smart money is on that fixture coming a little too soon.
However, the Macedonian fan favourite could realistically be in contention for the upcoming encounter with Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
Trapanovski suffered a “slight nick” to his hamstring in training at the end of last month and, while he is pushing hard for a return, Goodwin will remain cautious and guided by the Tannadice medical team.
“It’s different to a bang or a bruise or a sprained ankle,” said Goodwin. “You’ve got to be quite cautious with these muscle injuries and make sure that we follow protocol.
“Kristijan is desperate to get back, but the medical team are the ones who will guide us in terms of the recovery process and the timeframe on that.
“He’s had a great start to the season and is making good progress. We’ll see how he shapes up for the weekend.
“That might come too soon for him – but hopefully he’ll be good to go for the Aberdeen game.”
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