Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara will have his fingers crossed that Sean Dillon’s operation is a success.
The club captain will have surgery on the fractured cheekbone he suffered during United’s 2-0 loss to Leeds in the last of their pre-season friendlies on Saturday.
The Tangerines have something of a defensive crisis on their hands and manager McNamara would love to hear an upbeat diagnosis from hospital staff.
United have been given an estimate of up to six weeks for the Irishman to be out but the hope is that he will make it back more quickly than currently feared.
“Sean has obviously done his cheekbone and will get an operation tomorrow,” McNamara said.
“We will just need to wait and see what happens with that. We have been told six weeks out for him but we will have to see how the surgery goes. We hope it’s not as long as that.”
The list of defenders either crocked, just coming back from injury or still gaining match fitness is a long one.
As well as Dillon, John Souttar is still recovering from an ankle problem; Mark Wilson has been out all summer with a broken foot; Keith Watson finally overcame a calf strain to line up against Leeds; and recent signings Jarek Fojut and Conor Townsend are still working on their match fitness.
The only real constant at the back all pre-season has been Callum Morris, who looks like being one of McNamara’s first picks for the Dons game.
“Callum has done really well and that’s why we brought him here,” added the United gaffer.
“Against Leeds, I thought he was our best player. He was up against a few different strikers in that game but I thought he was outstanding for us.”