David Robertson’s St Johnstone career could be over after it was confirmed that the midfielder has broken his leg.
Saints boss Steve Lomas visited the former Dundee United man in Perth Royal Infirmary yesterday morning, and hours later he had his fractured tibia operated on.
The period of recovery is estimated at six months, by which time the season will be over and Robertson will be out of contract.
In football terms, the last 10 minutes of Wednesday night’s defeat to Hibs were sickening for Lomas and his team (they missed a penalty, conceded a goal and had their captain sent off), but the injury to a popular member of the dressing room was the biggest blow of all.
”Out of everything that happened last night, that’s the most disappointing,” Lomas admitted.
”Robbo’s a great lad who has fought back from injury and shown unbelievable professionalism. We’re all gutted for him.
”When you work with someone day to day you see the human qualities in a player. He’s coming out of contract and he’s got a bad injury.
”At the start of the year there was a chance he could be leaving the club, but he’s knuckled down and has been staking a claim for a starting place.
”He’s been the best trainer for the last eight weeks. We’ll have him in and around the place as soon as possible and get him back.
”To see him lying there today had me pretty near tears myself.
”I spoke to the surgeon and they’ll nail it from the inside, which allows the ankle and knee to start moving straight away, so he won’t get muscle wastage or stiffness in the joints.
”Like I said to Robbo, PRI is a great hospital. They see a lot of really bad road accidents and in terms of the procedure it’s pretty straightforward.
”In bygone days they plastered you up for weeks and if the fracture wasn’t healing they had to do something else.
”But he won’t be back playing this season. I think if he’s back in six months, he’s done brilliantly.
”From a purely selfish point of view, we’ve lost a player who would have forced his way into the team the way things were going.”
Dave Mackay is banned for tomorrow’s cup tie at Cowdenbeath and also the away game at St Mirren the following week, when Lomas will be short of centre-backs. Frazer Wright is suspended next weekend after another caution and David McCracken isn’t ready for a comeback from a cheek fracture.
Lomas suspected that distress caused by Robertson’s leg break could have been a factor in skipper Mackay’s out-of-character reaction to Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths, which prompted a stoppage time red card.
He said: ”I’m a fine one to talk but you can’t give a referee any scope for a card.
”Dave put his head towards an opponent. I’m not making excuses for an experienced player but emotions were running high after seeing what had happened to a team-mate just beforehand.
”I don’t care what anyone says that has an effect on players. They knew how serious it was.
”And maybe Griffiths, who chased down a ball we were expecting to get, could have gone with him.”
The game-changing moment was an 82nd minute penalty miss by Hasselbaink. The Dutchman has never taken one before and Lomas’s reaction to the situation earned him a second dismissal to the stand this month.
He said: ”Nigel isn’t our regular penalty taker so I was frustrated. I’m not having a go at Nigel because he is a young lad and had the confidence to take it. But that’s why I was going ape.
”I kicked the water bottle holder and I’m told I was sent off because it went near the crowd. It was down to sheer frustration over the penalty. I’ve seen other managers do the same and nothing happens.”
The sudden drop in temperature has put tomorrow’s cup tie in doubt. The Central Park pitch was frozen yesterday and Cowdenbeath boss Colin Cameron said: ”We have put down covers but we are in the lap of the gods. The game would be off if it was scheduled for today.”