Ross County have suffered a double injury blow after attacker Liam Boyce and midfielder Jackson Irvine were ruled out of the race to make the top six.
Boyce has broken his left hand for a second time, while training with Northern Ireland on Sunday, only two months after returning from a five-week absence.
The 24-year-old, who has netted 18 goals for County, will see a specialist today to discover the extent of the injury, which is a blow to his hopes of cementing his place in manager Michael O’Neill’s squad for this summer’s European championship finals in France.
Irvine will be sidelined for two weeks with the ankle ligament injury he suffered in the 3-0 Highland derby loss against Caley Thistle on March 19.
Both players will be missing as County try to consolidate their position in the top six in the next two games against Dundee and Partick Thistle.
Jackson will return for post-split matches and McIntyre is optimistic Boyce will also have a part to play before the end of the campaign.
The manager said: “We are hopeful Liam’s break might not be as bad as last time, but until we get the full diagnosis we are unsure of a timescale for his recovery.
“But we don’t think it will be anywhere as lengthy as the last time. When you have had an injury like Craig Curran’s head injury, that’s one that is hard to deal with.
“A broken bone is a broken bone and Liam knows he won’t be out for too long.
“As frustrated as he is, it will not be a long-term injury and Liam will be back before long.”
Full back Jamie Reckord is also struggling to make Saturday’s trip to Dundee due to a minor injury, but goalkeeper Scott Fox has returned to full training following a knee injury.
McIntyre believes his players have benefited from the international break after a run of tough games earlier this month, which included County’s 2-1 League Cup final victory against Hibernian.
McIntyre said: “It came at a perfect time for us.
“We had a number of players nursing injuries and they needed a few days off.
“We had a lot of games and also had the challenge of the cup final and then two really important leagues games, including a derby.”
