St Johnstone striker Stevie May has been ruled out of action until Christmas.
The Perth forward sustained a knee injury in training and faces a battle to be back playing in this calendar year.
The festive period is May’s return target, according to manager Callum Davidson, who was relieved the three-time cup winner hadn’t picked up an even more serious injury.
“Stevie has tweaked his knee ligament so has been for a scan and will be out until Christmas time,” said Davidson.
“It’s a blow for us because he’s a key player in an important area of the team and we’ll miss him a lot.
“Obviously with his history it was a scare and Stevie was fearing the worst.
“But thankfully the results have come back not as bad as we first thought so hopefully he can heal pretty quickly.
“We have struggled with defenders being injured so we were hoping to start getting a bit of luck.”
The door will open for other attackers in this weekend’s League Cup semi-final against Celtic and beyond, one of them being Eetu Vertainen.
He impressed in a recent closed-doors match.
“We played a bounce game against Hearts last week and Eetu played very well,” said Davidson.
“He now looks near enough to getting a place in the team and it will be a big chance for him now.
“Ali Crawford gives me another option up there as well if we need it.”
Zander Clark contract offer
Meanwhile, Davidson confirmed that Saints have put a “very good offer” on the table for goalkeeper Zander Clark.
🧤🧤🧤🧤@Zanderr1 #SJFC pic.twitter.com/UY5V8ytEXx
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) November 15, 2021
Rangers are reported to be potential suitors for the Scotland squad man, who is out of contract in the summer.
“Given the way Zander has played it’s no surprise he’s being linked with other clubs,” said Davidson.
“He’s produced big performances in big games for us, so it’s a testament to how well he’s been doing if other clubs are interested.
“But we have offered him a very good contract and want him to stay here.
“Hopefully he will make his mind up where he wants to be and that will be with St Johnstone.”
