Cove Rangers will be without midfielder Charlie Gilmour for the foreseeable future after his ankle injury against Hamilton Accies.
Manager Jim McIntyre is not able to put an exact timescale on his absence at this stage, but fears it could be up to two months before the St Johnstone loanee is back available.
Gilmour was injured in the first half against Accies after a heavy challenge and had to be replaced by Jamie Masson.
He has been an undisputed starter for Cove since joining from the Perth Saints in August and has formed an impressive partnership with Blair Yule in the middle of the park.
“He’s not good – he had a scan on Thursday, but it’s a bad one,” said McIntyre. “He’ll be six-to-eight weeks or longer, judging by the size of his ankle and how black and blue it is.
“I can’t give an exact timeframe until we get the results of the scan back, but his ankle is three times the size.
“It’s a sore for one for us as a team, because the balance of the team has been very good, with the partnership with Blair. We’ll certainly miss that.
“There is a wee bit of versatility in the squad and the centre of the park is the one area where we do have some numbers. But obviously Connor (Scully) has been filling in at left-back with Shay (Logan) being injured.
“We want to make sure we try get the right bodies in during the window, if we can.”
Cove face Inverness on Monday in their third meeting this season.
Caley Thistle have not had their problems to seek of late, given a poor run of form allayed with a crippling injury list.
The Caley Jags, managed by McIntyre’s former Ross County assistant Billy Dodds, have recalled five youngsters out on loan to bolster their squad before the game.
But for McIntyre the onus has to be on what Cove can deliver against their under-pressure opponents, as the Aberdeen side look to record their first away win of the season.
“It’s been well-documented that Billy has had a horrendous time with injuries of late,” said McIntyre. “But we need to look after ourselves.
“They’ve beaten us twice already this season and we need to make sure it’s not three times. They’ve still got players that can hurt you and we’ve got to be mindful of that.
“We can’t get caught up in thinking it’s going to be an easier game, because football doesn’t work like that.
“We’ve got everything to prove. We had a poor performance there at the start of the season and we’d like to put on a much better one and get the three points.
“They’ll be playing with the determination to bounce back from last week and I wouldn’t expect anything less than that.”
With the transfer window around the corner, McIntyre is working on potential additions to the squad, but does not feel pressured to strengthen his group.
“If we don’t sign the players we want to get, then we’ll go with the squad that’s been there since the start of the season,” added McIntyre.
“There’s been a lot of good stuff from the boys, but like any manager, you’re always looking to strengthen during the window.
“There’s been one or two enquiries about some of our players that haven’t played, so we just need to wait and see what happens.”
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