Queen of the South are hoping to provide fireworks in tomorrow’s capital clash with FC Edinburgh.
But the Doonhamers have been hit with a growing casualty count, including the grim news that Stuart Morrison has been ruled out for the next four months following ankle surgery.
Player boss Wullie Gibson said: “Stuart has had his operation and we will be without him for about four months. It’s a long one, but we have to get on with it.”
Morrison, 23, had to be replaced during the first half of the League One game away to Falkirk in August with damaged ankle and foot ligaments and finally went under the knife last week.
He was due to meet with the surgeon at the beginning of this week for an update, but early indications show the operation was a success and now it will take four months for him to recover.
Morrison was one of four key players missing through injury last weekend as the Doonhamers slumped to a 3-1 home defeat against Falkirk.
The other crocks were Iain Wilson, Josh Todd and Calvin McGrory.
And that paved the way for a return to first team action for player manager Gibson.
He said: “There were a few enforced changes, myself coming in was because we didn’t have Calvin, Josh or Iain available and it is one of them if they were available, I probably wouldn’t play.
“I am getting less and less involved because I am going down a different route in management and trying to learn and progress there, but with the bodies we didn’t have available I’ve had to go in.”
McGrory missed the game due to a nagging foot injury, Wilson also has a foot problem, while Todd is still struggling to shake off a hamstring strain.
Gibson is desperate for his side to make amends after being booed off last weekend at Palmerston by a section of supporters.
And the FC Edinburgh fixture is a perfect opportunity following the South’s back to back convincing wins over them earlier this season.
Meanwhile, Gibson added of the crock crisis: “Calvin is still feeling pain when he is walking and running, so we’re just taking it day by day and it’s a case of waiting for that to settle down.
“This Saturday is probably too soon for Josh and we are looking at the Alloa game for him, but, again, until he increases the workload, we don’t know how he will react.
“For Iain, the swelling hasn’t changed from last week, we sent him for an X-ray to make sure, but, thankfully, there is nothing broken, but the swelling is causing some discomfort.
“For Stuart, it’s a long one, that’s what I mean about team selection, Paul McKay came in to a back three, probably sooner than we wanted last week against Clyde, but because Iain dropped out last minute, we went with that, and he was still feeling a bit of pain on Monday, so we left him out and we went with back four this week and it didn’t work”.
