Raith Rovers keeper David McGurn is not expected to return to action until the final few weeks of the season as he continues his recovery from a serious ankle injury.
The 33-year-old shot-stopper tore his achilles tendon against Morton back in October and has been sidelined after undergoing surgery to repair the damage.
Rovers boss Grant Murray has revealed McGurn’s recovery is progressing well but reckons his No 1 is unlikely to be back between the sticks until April at the earliest due to the nature of his injury.
“Davie is coming along,” the Raith manager said. “He’s now out of the protective boot which is good.
“Obviously he had to be in that a while, but it’s just a case of rehab now and getting the thing moving. In the boot he couldn’t do anything, it was just a case of letting it heal and set properly.
“It will be a long recovery for him, but he’s a determined guy and he’ll want to get back as soon as possible, but it’s got to be right for him.
“The kind of injury it was, you have to be very protective of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. The doctors have not put any timescale on it and now he’s out of the boot, once he starts his rehab he could feel it again.
“It would be great if we could get him back for say April time, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it comes along.”
However, there is better news on the injury front in relation to defender Paul Watson, who broke his foot in training in December.
The centre-half has been a big miss for the Kirkcaldy club in their Championship campaign but Murray foresees a return in three or four weeks.
“He’s feeling a lot, lot better and I’m hopeful that maybe the start of February we could possibly get him back,” he added.
Murray also confirmed that former Hibs, Morton and Livingston centre-back Kevin McCann has left the club following his short-term deal at Stark’s Park.
“We’re thankful to Kevin for coming for the short period we had him,” Murray said.
“We knew the situation with Kevin in that he was going to Singapore and he was always going there.
“I thought he did very well for us, he’s a great professional and a good lad. He came in and did a job when he was asked to, so we thank him for that.”
The Rovers boss is looking to try to strengthen his squad if possible in the transfer window but added that there will be no move for former Rovers winger Iain Williamson.
The 25-year-old was training with Raith prior to Christmas but remains committed to Icelandic club Valur.
Murray added: “He’s a friend of mine and he was back from Iceland, so he came in to train with us so he could tick over.
“Their season starts again in February or March but there was nothing in that.
“He asked if he could get training facilities to try and get some fitness in over the Christmas period.”