Dundee United striker Mario Bilate is facing weeks on the sidelines after tearing his hamstring.
The Russian-born Dutchman lasted only half-an-hour of Saturday’s 3-0 win over St Mirren at Tannadice before hobbling off to be replaced by sub Stuart Armstrong.
Previously dogged by hamstring trouble, this injury is a new one that will be scanned as soon as possible.
Only then will the exact length of his absence from the team be known.
An educated guess is that he will sit out the rest of this month at the very least, with the first match he will miss being Friday night’s trip to Motherwell in the league.
United manager Jackie McNamara was particularly keen to get Bilate up to peak fitness as frontman Nadir Ciftci is suspended for the Scottish Cup tie against the Steelmen on November 29.
However, it will now be a long wait for both player and club.
McNamara said: “Unfortunately, Mario is now going to be out for a few weeks. I think we will be getting a scan done to see the extent of the tear in the hamstring.
“It’s not quite the same area as before but obviously there is a weakness. We need to get to the bottom of that and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“It is disappointing for him and the club. We were trying to get him up to speed by giving him game time and, from his point of view, it’s a real setback.
“We have a lot of big games coming up and we wanted him to play for the whole match on Saturday but he had to come off. The season has been a stop-start for him.
“Coming to us late in the summer has meant he has been playing catch-up fitness-wise so it’s frustrating.”
The Premiership leaders travel to Fir Park on Friday full of confidence and options, after the players brought in from the fringe of the side shone in the win over the Buddies.
It is a different story for second-bottom Well, of course, who saw manager Stuart McCall resign on Sunday night in the wake of their Friday loss to St Johnstone.
A change isn’t always good news for opposition teams, of course, with players often keen to go the extra mile after letting their old boss down.
Reflecting upon McCall’s decision to leave, McNamara said: “I was both surprised and disappointed to hear that. Stuart is a fantastic guy who has done a great job there.
“He lost players and has had to rebuild year on year. The start they have had this season has been difficult for them and maybe he just feels he has gone as far as he can with them and needs to move on to other things.
“I am sad to see him go because he was a good character.
“As for our game on Friday, if it is (caretaker boss) Kenny Black still in charge or another manager in by then you would imagine there will be reaction from their players.
“For me, though, if we play to our capabilities we should be OK. There are players here who are pushing each other and we have real hunger and desire to be involved.”