Livingston have been dealt an injury blow following news that Tom Parkes could miss the entire season.
But while the Lions are reeling from the loss of one centre-back, the return of another from injury is just around the corner with Morgan Boyes expected to be available for selection before the end of the month.
Parkes underwent knee surgery in the summer but is now expected to be ruled out for up to nine months after requiring a second operation.
Boss David Martindale admitted that he was ‘gutted’ for the player, who signed a new deal in the summer after his original operation was due to rule him out for six weeks.
He said: “He had his op but the meniscus has come off the bone.
“He had surgery in the summer. He signed his contract, started his rehab, then six weeks in his knee started swelling again. We got a second opinion and learned the meniscus has come off the bone.
“It’s just really unlucky for me in terms of missing a player, for the football club in terms of finances, but mostly for Tom. I’m gutted for him, he’s a great lad. He’s worked so hard, he’s so eager to play for Livingston. The season's nearly a write-off for him to be honest."
The injury to Parkes has also meant Martindale has had to shelve plans to loan out Boyes, who has returned to training following a ligament injury sustained in the final game of last season.
Martindale said: "I'm looking for one more offensive player. I think I'm fine defensively. Morgan's been back running for two weeks and to be honest up until Tom's injury the plan was to send him out to get games but I don't think I can do that now.
"The idea was to get him up to speed because he's missed a full pre-season - it's been three months since his op - but that's probably not going to happen now. We're looking at it likely being the end of August before he's ready for games but Tom's injury has made my mind up that we're not going to get the opportunity to put him out on loan.
"I really like Morgan, he's a very good player and there's a lot of development and talent still to come from him. I was hoping to get him game time until January but he'll need to be part of our squad."
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