Luckless Cammy MacPherson is facing another spell on the sidelines.
The St Johnstone midfielder hobbled off early doors in Saturday’s 4-0 Premiership defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.
A thigh injury could keep him out for three to four weeks, although scan results were yesterday still to arrive.
Perth boss Callum Davidson said: “We are waiting on the scan results and should have those in the next couple of days, but it wasn’t great because he felt something pop.
“That suggests it could be a little tear so if it is, hopefully it’s not too bad and settles down quickly.
“It’s such a shame for Cammy and for us because he’s been playing really well.
“He’s won his place in the team so it’s going to be a great shame if he’s out for three or four weeks now.
“It has happened to him a few times now, with all different kinds of injuries.
“He’s desperate to be playing, he works very hard in training and in the gym because he wants to become better.
“He’s got all the attributes to be a top quality Premiership midfielder, but he needs to get that run of games.
“It’s rotten luck for him because he’s not had more than three games on the bounce since joining us.
“We see him in training, see how good he is but he needs to be playing consistently.
“For any player, to get that consistency of performance and really kick on you need that 10, 15 games in a row in a team.
“As a team you also need players in there for that length of time because it allows others to get used to their way of playing and form those partnerships.
“So it’s a huge shame he’s not been able to get that so far. He just needs a change of fortune because it has been shoulder injuries, his groin and now his thigh.
“If it was the same injury recurring over and over you’d be looking at it thinking we need to explore it much further.
“But it’s all different areas so it looks like it’s just bad luck.”
MacPherson’s replacement at Ibrox, new signing Daniel Phillips, impressed.
“We will see how he is at the start of this week, how his body is feeling after playing so long for his first game of the season,” Davidson said.
“He was due to play in a bounce game but sometimes your opportunity comes earlier. He did himself no harm at the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Saints' promising young forward Taylor Steven is being backed to shine on loan at East Fife.
Davidson said: “Taylor has been a bright spark for us when he’s come on this season so we were keen to get him out on loan playing regular football.
“He came back in hungry and showing a great desire to get games for us. He can play a couple of positions but we see him as a centre forward.
“He’s got a great attitude and hopefully he will do well at East Fife then come back to put pressure on our strikers.
“I know Stevie Crawford well and they are a good club for our young players to go to.”
