John Rankin will miss Dundee United’s home game against Kilmarnock after injuring his knee.
The experienced midfielder did the damage during the club’s last Premiership match against Motherwell a fortnight ago.
It is not thought to be in the really serious category but manager Jackie McNamara still faces an anxious wait to find out how low Rankin will be on the sidelines.
“John is out with his knee,” confirmed McNamara as he prepared his players for the visit of Kilmarnock to Tannadice.
“He hurt his medial ligament in the recent Motherwell game.
“It happened after a tackle, which opened up the knee a little bit.
“I had used the three subs that night but John managed to stay on the park.
“It’s not serious, thankfully.
“Hopefully, he is not going to be too long.
“He has started running a wee bit but he is still going to be a week or two away.
“Now it’s just a case of timescale and we need to find out how long he will be out.”
United also have striker Mario Bilate sidelined for the Killie clash, with Nadir Ciftci to start up front before serving a suspension when the club meets Motherwell at Fir Park again, this time in the Scottish Cup fourth round.
McNamara confirmed: “Mario is still not right yet and will be out for another two weeks.”