Dundee boss Paul Hartley has revealed that striker Peter MacDonald will be sidelined for almost two months in a bid to cure a knee problem.
The veteran frontman has visited a specialist in London regarding the injury with surgery being ruled out.
However, 33-year-old “Peaso” will have an injection followed by an extended period of rest in a bid to allow him to finally return to action.
Hartley said: “Peaso will be out for at least six weeks with his knee.
“He had a knock on it and it just got worse. We sent him to a specialist in London to get some advice about it.
“The surgeon has said he does not need an op, instead, he will have an injection in his knee.
“He has had a wee problem for a while so the best thing we can do is give him the injection, let him rest and hopefully he will be ready to come back.
“He has had a lot of problems over the years with that knee so we just need to be careful with it.”
While MacDonald will avoid going under the knife, that was not an option for keeper Kyle Letheren who had surgery on Monday on his injured knee.
Hartley added: “Kyle is having an operation and will probably be out for two months.
“Luka Tankulic is waiting on an X-ray on his foot while Iain Davidson was ill on Saturday with a sinus infection.
“Simon Ferry has had a tough couple of weeks (with illness) but he will be back running tomorrow.”
With Letheren set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Hartley was determined to bring in an experienced keeper as back-up and he has now signed 25-year-old German stopper Arvid Schenk on a short-term deal.
The manager said: “Arvid played with Luka at Wolfsburg. We have him on a short-term deal as we felt we needed some cover.
“We had come unstuck with bringing a goalie in as the league wouldn’t allow us which was a problem for us.
“Arvid has a good presence about him. He is 6ft 5 and is a big lad.
“So we will see how it goes over the next couple of months and hopefully he will prove to be a good back-up goalkeeper for us.”