All eyes are on Declan Gallagher and how bad his groin injury is.
He’s a player Dundee United really miss badly when he’s not there – that showed in the second half at Pittodrie on Sunday.
The closing stages were played out by a tired team under pressure and it can be really difficult to avoid sitting really deep in that situation.
An experienced player, particularly at centre-back, can spot that and push his team up the park a bit.
But it wasn’t only Gallagher missing in the final parts of the game.
Will Ferry was out pre-match while Craig Sibbald made a welcome return in midfield, but clearly could not manage 90 minutes.
Throw in Ross Docherty’s continuing injury issues, Louis Moult not being back yet and Kevin Holt leaving and I wonder if United have the depth to be able to win this race for third place.
I do have to stop myself here, though. It is a remarkable achievement for Dundee United to be challenging for third in their first season back in the top-flight. That should not be forgotten.
And there shouldn’t be too much disappointment if they don’t manage it because it has been a superb season.
I think the end to both games against Aberdeen and Hibs over the past week show that this United team isn’t the finished article yet.
When key men are missing, there can be a bit of a drop-off.
So hopefully this break coming up can ease some of those injuries ahead of the derby next weekend.
Gallagher is a huge player for this side but so is Sibbald.
And a couple of weeks training in his legs after returning to the team at Pittodrie will do him no harm at all.
It’s been a long wait to get him back and you can see immediately the difference that comes from having him in midfield.
It sounds like they threw him into action a little bit early but that just proves my point about some of these key players – United really need them.
It says a lot about him, too, that he’d only had a handful of training sessions before the game and you couldn’t tell by his performance.
So if there is bad news over Gallagher and Ferry for next weekend, at least Sibbald getting nearer 100% will soften that blow.
They’ll need all these boys if they are to win this race for third.
They showed in the past week, even if they didn’t get the results they wanted, that United can compete with the likes of Hibs and Aberdeen.
There is obviously quality in the Tangerines squad.
What Hibs and Aberdeen have to their advantage is more established teams, players who have been playing Premiership football for the past few seasons and that depth of quality.
A breather now, though, isn’t the worst thing for United. Jim Goodwin would rather still be in the cup but there’s time to rest weary legs, get injured players up to speed and recharge the batteries.
We’re into the end game now and United need all their key men fit and firing.
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