St Johnstone midfielder Cammy MacPherson faces an anxious wait before he discovers the extent of his thigh injury.
The former St Mirren man had to be taken off just a few minutes into Saints’ 4-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.
From the moment he went down, there appeared no prospect of him carrying on.
And manager Callum Davidson expects to have a clearer picture regarding the length of MacPherson’s latest lay-off at the start of the week.
It’s coming up to a year since he arrived at McDiarmid Park and in that time the 23-year-old has dislocated his shoulder twice and been sidelined after groin surgery.
“We were really disappointed to lose Cammy,” said Davidson.
“He needs to be playing regularly to cement his place in the team.
“It’s a thigh strain. We’ll see how it is in the next couple of days.”
MacPherson’s exit meant Daniel Phillips got an early Saints debut.
And Davidson was pleased with what he saw from the former Watford midfielder.
“I hadn’t wanted to give Daniel as many minutes as that but obviously he had to come on early after Cammy got injured,” he said.
“Daniel tired in the last 10 or 15 minutes but he coped really well and put a shift in.”
Positives to take
Meanwhile, Davidson wasn’t too downbeat following Saturday’s loss.
“For around 75 minutes I was quite happy,” he said.
“In the first half I was pleased with our effort and shape – how we went about our business.
“We conceded a very sloppy goal (just after the half-hour mark).
“I didn’t feel as if Rangers opened us up very much.
“But they’re a very good team and when you come here you have to take your chances.
“Theo’s got to take his chance (a shot past the post from six yards out when the score was still 0-0).
“The second goal we conceded was another poor one and meant it was comfortable for Rangers as we got near the end.
“Remi (Matthews) wasn’t getting peppered. It didn’t feel like one of those type of games.
“We’ll take positives out of it.
“There’s been a big improvement from the start of the season.
“It’s a new team and there are a lot of good things.”
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