Aberdeen defender Anthony Stewart has left new manager Mark Jackson with his ‘head in his hands’ after being ruled out for weeks with a freakish training-ground injury.
Stewart joined MK Dons on loan on transfer-deadline day and was denied an instant debut due to the suspension hanging over him from his League Cup semi-final red card against Rangers.
Now, the 30-year-old is sweating on the extent of the unspecified injury that has sidelined him for even longer.
Stewart was made Aberdeen skipper by Jim Goodwin after his arrival from Wycombe Wanderers last summer but was allowed to depart on loan after Goodwin was sacked in the wake of embarrassing defeats to Hearts, Darvel and Hibernian.
Jackson said: “Anthony Stewart has joined us, done everything right, he’s been playing all season and training all season, and he’s picked up an injury.
“We had his suspension, where we had to deal with that, but he’s picked up a freakish injury in training where we have to assess it and look at it in more depth to see what the extent of it is. It was a real kick in the teeth.
“We’re hopeful it might not be too long, but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst, just in case. It won’t be days, it’s going to be weeks but there’s no specific timeframe on it yet.
“Anthony was devastated. One of the reasons we brought him in was leadership, so he’s keen and he wants to be about the group.
“He’s a really, really strong character. It’s a bit of a blow for him, of course it it; it’s knocked him for six a bit.
“I had my head in my hands for half-an-hour after I was given the news.”
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